Kylian Mbappé is now the all-time top scorer in World Cup history. With a brace in the third-place play-off against England, he broke Lionel Messi’s long-standing record. But even this personal achievement could not lift the France captain’s disappointment, because the chance to play in a World Cup final meant far more to him than a record. France lost 6-4 to England in Miami on Saturday, letting third place slip away too.
At the post-match news conference, Mbappé said frankly that beyond the joy of personal success, the regret of not playing in the final was eating at him. Taking his World Cup goal tally to 22, Mbappé said: “I always want to score for the team. Scoring so many goals is of course something special. But honestly, even without this record, if I could have played the final, I would have chosen that.”
The France captain also gave his view on Argentina’s final against Spain on Sunday. Smiling as he spoke of his former teammate Lionel Messi, he said: “Leo always scores. He’ll surely score tomorrow (today) too.” Although he has taken the record for the World Cup’s top scorer, Mbappé is not willing to give it too much importance for now: “In terms of a football legacy, it’s of course a great achievement. Maybe one day after I retire I’ll think that I too have taken a place among the legends. But right now none of that is on my mind.”
France fell 4-0 behind against England in the first half. Explaining the dismal start, Mbappé said: “If the fans were disappointed watching the first half, I understand. We are human, bad days can come. In the first half we were completely out of rhythm.” But he praised the team’s fight after the break: “In the second half we returned to our true selves, playing with much more intensity and emotion. We played well in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to win the match.”
This match was also the last time Didier Deschamps stood in the dugout as France coach, having announced his departure before the World Cup. So the regret of not being able to send off his beloved coach with a win came through in Mbappé’s voice too: “We wanted to do something special for him. But our first-half performance made it feel as if we let him down. We didn’t want to say goodbye to him this way. We are grateful for what he has done for French football. One match defeat can never dim his legendary career,” the France captain said.
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