Mbappé on the Ballon d’Or: “Ronaldo and Messi? They are irreplaceable”
The Frenchman says he does not intend to replace them at the top of football, although he admits that this individual award is an objective, as is the 2026 World Cup.
Back in Didier Deschamps’ squad, Kylian Mbappé spoke about France ‘s double clash with Croatia in the Nations League quarter-finals and reiterated that he always wanted to be in the national team.
“I’m very happy to be back in the group. We talk to most of the teammates who are here almost all the time. I go on holiday with some of them. It’s good to be here. The situation may not have been clear to people on the outside, but it was always clear internally,” he began by saying, in a press conference, stating that the goal is to win the 2026 World Cup again .
“As I said, my thoughts are on the 2026 World Cup. In a competition of this importance, you have to dedicate all your energy to it. We want to prepare well for this competition, so that we can achieve our dream of becoming world champions,” he said, explaining that bad times are part of a player’s career, as was the case during his initial period at Real Madrid and at the last Euro .
“A career is not linear. You have to focus on what makes you happy and get back to work. If I had to do things differently? I would have played better. I can understand some things. I am clear about what I do well and what I don’t do well. Maybe I had reasons that could or could not be explained. Some things are explainable, others are not. I have never had a problem with criticism when it is well argued. I didn’t do well against Italy, I didn’t like my press conference, I accept that”, he explained, admitting that the Ballon d’Or is an objective, but calmly.
“I’m going to ask Luka [Modric] how you win! (laughs). At Real, I play with Modric, a legendary player. It’s a pleasure to be with him every day. He always has the same desire to play. It’s a great honour to be his teammate. This week we’ve been joking with each other about the games,” he revealed. “ Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ? I’m not trying to take their place. They are irreplaceable,” he assured.
Finally, she addressed Rabiot ‘s situation after the match between Marseille and PSG : «I spoke to Adrien, he was affected, it’s not easy. Few people know what it’s like. I don’t understand. I don’t understand. It goes beyond this episode and PSG. It happened with Bradley at Lyon . I don’t understand why they’re talking about families. It’s a nasty habit. I think it is. Talking about someone’s mother, their father… If you write a bad article, I won’t talk about your daughter. It’s ridiculous. We’re seeing this more and more often. I hope this changes things and serves as an example. I’m a bit fed up. Limits that shouldn’t be crossed. We don’t want to see that.»
