Kylian Mbappé

Mon joueur de foot préféré -- Kylian Mbappé. Some may know him due to his immense speed, his goal scoring abilities, or simply from the World Cup Final, where he scored a brilliant hat-trick, two penalties and a shootout penalty. Mbappé has quickly become one of the world’s greatest players, at only 24 years old. 

Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a french footballer born on 20th December, 1998 in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Bondy. His father was Wilfried Mbappé and was Mbappé's coach from a young age. Mbappé has two siblings, his elder sibling, Jirès Kembo Ekoko, and his younger sibling, Ethan Mbappé. Mbappé made his debut at AS Bondy on December 2nd, 2015, at the brink of 17 years old. On his first season, he barely had playing time and overall, only scored one goal that season. In 2016-2017, it was a different story; he managed to score 15 goals as well as capturing AS Monaco their League 1 title. In that season, the team managed to defeat Manchester City and Dortmund, before progressing to the UEFA semifinals, where they unfortunately lost to Juventus. Next season, Mbappé immediately signed to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), along with Neymar. Both players let the team to victory by scoring consecutive League 1 titles (2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020). During these years of dominance, Mbappé earned multiple trophies for League 1 player of the season. In 2021, PSG signed Lionel Messi, where they won the League 1 title for that season. On the 4th March 2023, Mbappé had scored 201 goals for PSG -- the most goals made by a PSG player in history, surpassing Edison Cavani. Currently, Mbappé has a contract with PSG until 2025, where he is ranked the highest paid football player in the world. 

In 2016, Mbappe, leading France’s national team, won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship. One of the highlights of his career, was the France victory in the 2018 World Cup, where they defeated Croatia 4-2. Mbappé, at only age of 19, became the youngest footballer to ever score in a World Cup competition. He also became the second teenager to score in a World Cup Final, securing himself the World Cup’s Best Young Player Award. In 2021, Mbappé scored the winning goal for France against Spain in the final of the UEFA National Tournament. At the 2022 World Cup, he scored a penalty in the 80th minute, followed by a hat-trick less than a minute later. He also scored another penalty for France in the extended time, leading to a penalty shootout, where he scored another goal. He scored eight goals in 7 matches, more than any player in the tournament, earning him the Golden Boot. In total, Mbappé has scored four goals in World Cup finals which is more than any player in history.

The incredible potential of this man and his charming personality off-pitch, is what makes him my favourite player. Mbappé has extraordinary feats at such a young age which makes him such a valuable asset to PSG and a wanted player by many teams. His agility and his spectacular goals make him a menacing player to defend against and when he has the ball and is running towards the opponents' goal, it’s safe to say the opposing team is in danger. He’s also known for his ability to change games. Mbappé single-handedly changed the odds of matches in many occassions, an obvious one being France vs Argentina. His dribbling skills are also immaculate and he has wonderful chemistry with his teammates. Neymar and Mbappé both make one of the craziest duos in football, as they are both in sync with one another and easily able to predict each others’ movements. Together, they have managed to score many goals and assists. Mbappé and Messi are also one of the best duos in football. Since Messi is known to be an incredible playmaker, and Mbappé is known to be an incredible goal scorer, you can imagine that both their skills together would be deadly. Off-pitch, Mbappé speaks multiple languages: French, English, Spanish and a bit of Italian. His PSG teammates commonly refer to him as lively, outgoing, and a joy to play with. His politeness and knowledge is appreaciable in his interviews and makes him a pleasure to listen to. 

I’ve only recently gotten into football but I can tell I’m going to support this man for a long time. His world cup performance was nothing short of heroic, and I’m sure his prime is coming very soon. His skills, talent and personality is what makes him one of the greatest players of our generation. His presence and contribution in games is mesmerizing and watching him play has truly become a common pastime for me. Rooting for you Mbappé...Allez Kyky de Bondy!