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By Megan Armstrong
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France captain Kylian Mbappe walked away from the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup with the Golden Boot — the first player to win the Golden Boot in two World Cups — but he'd trade all 10 goals and four assists if it meant that the World Cup ended differently for Les Bleus.
France was a powerhouse and looked unbeatable through the quarterfinals, but none of it mattered once Spain, the eventual champions, easily ousted Les Bleus in a 2-0 semifinal win. France then lost the 3rd-place match to England, though it was a thrilling 6-4 goal-a-palooza.
Mbappe took a couple of weeks to process it all before posted a lengthy statement to Instagram. The Real Madrid star profusely thanked his fans, teammates, and now-former manager Didier Deschamps.
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"We're not bringing a collective trophy home," Mbappe wrote, in part. "It hurts, and it will hurt for a while. I won't pretend otherwise. I'm proud to have won the Golden Boot, but it would have meant far more with the World Cup beside it. Maybe we owed you a better ending. But we don't always get to choose how the story ends. We do get to choose what we put into it, and we gave it everything. That much we can be proud of."
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Mbappe noted that he grew up dreaming of playing in "just one" World Cup, and he "will never forget" that he has now played in three, winning the 2018 World Cup, and captained France this summer.
As for Deschamps, Mbappe said "he knows" how he feels about him because he's "already said to Didier what I needed to say" in private."
Read the full statement here.
Deschamps, 57, stepped down from his role as manager of the French national team at the conclusion of the World Cup. He became one of three men to have won the World Cup both as a player and a manager, per The Athletic's Nick Miller, during his 14-year tenure.
On Tuesday, July 28, the French Football Federation officially appointed Zinedine Zidane as Deschamps' successor. Zidane, a former Ballon d'Or winner, will look to become the fourth man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager when the 2030 World Cup rolls around.
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