Humility and greatness go together

Kylian Mbappé was eighteen when he first walked into the changing room of the French national team. “It’s very difficult,” he recalled, “because great players don’t want to give you their place. That’s what makes them great players. They especially don’t want to give you their place if you arrive with the label of ‘Future Great Player’.”

In July 2018, aged 19, Mbappé played the World Cup final against Croatia. The night before, he recalled, “I was a bit stressed. I didn’t manage to sleep much. But the nearer the match came, the less stressed I was. When you’re in the World Cup final, you’re convinced that you’re going to win. Even the Croats were convinced they were going to win. You walk on to the field and the trophy is there, between the two teams, and you tell yourself it’s impossible that the other team will take it. That’s why there’s such disappointment afterwards if you don’t win.

“Now I don’t think of that trophy at all. I don’t look at pictures of the World Cup before going to sleep. Honestly, it’s people on the street who come up and say, ‘You’re world champion, merci, merci.’”