Greatness Ala Mbappé

As a precocious teenager, Hublot ambassador Kylian Mbappé helped his country to world football’s greatest prize with displays of blistering skill and crisp finishing. As he strides confidently into adulthood, Mbappé proves that he is more than just a good footballer.

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

Arguably, French footballer and Hublot ambassador Kylian Mbappé truly showed his greatness during his most disappointing defeat.

It was a cool December evening in the shining city of Lusail in Qatar, which was playing host to the biggest game of the world’s most popular sport — the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. At half-time, Argentina was leading 2-0, thanks to goals by Messi and fellow veteran Ángel Di María.

Just over 6,000km away, an anxious silence has fallen over Paris — a similar silence pervaded France’s dressing room in the Lusail Stadium.

Then, 23-year-old Kylian Mbappé stepped up. “It’s the World Cup, guys. it’s the match of a lifetime,” he says passionately to his teammates. “Whatever happens, we can’t do any worse than what we did (in the first half). We’re going back out there on to the pitch: either we let them play us like idiots, or we put a bit of intensity into the game, get into the one on ones and change things, guys.”

The respect that Mbappé has garnered from his peers and colleagues in his relatively short international career was obvious — there was a palpable stirring among his teammates. He continues, shouting: “It’s a World Cup final! We are two goals down. We can come back! Something like this only comes round once every four years.”

The French side that came out for the second half was a different one. They were livelier, more spirited, and this renewed energy paid off when Nicolas Otamendi brought down Randal Kolo Muani in the penalty box 10 minutes from full time.

Mbappé took the penalty, cool and collected in the world’s biggest game, in the football match with the highest stakes, and scored. The French revival, spurred on by Kylian Mbappé, had begun.