He dismissed the coach at 15, repeated Pelé’s achievement and overtook Messi. Kylian Mbappé’s biography

After a major victory over Ukraine, the French national team qualified for the World Cup. Kylian Mbappé will be the star player for Les Bleus at the 2026 World Cup. This will be the striker’s third World Cup. In the previous two, he played until the very end and scored 12 goals. He is only five goals away from becoming the best striker in World Cup history. Mbappé’s statistics suggest that he will be able to set another record this summer. We tell you how the Frenchman got to this point.

Ambitions from an early age and Chelsea’s rejection

Kylian Mbappé likes to say that his journey into football began much earlier than it does for other boys. At the age of three, he received a toy jeep with an electric motor as a gift, which he could drive around in like a real car. His parents allowed their son to drive it from their house to a nearby football field. Kylian did this with an air of importance, as if he were a young professional on his way to training. But as soon as he got near the ball, everything else lost its meaning: the jeep was left behind. His friends envied him for such a cool toy, but for Mbappé, football was already the main attraction.

The commune of Bondy, where Kylian grew up, shaped his character and outlook. There was an unwritten rule there. If you see a group of guys on the street and you know at least one of them, there are two options: just wave or go over and shake hands with everyone. Mbappé still follows this principle. ‘Should I just wave to Mourinho or should I go over?’ Kylian wondered at the FIFA The Best ceremony when he noticed José Mourinho surrounded by strangers. In the end, the footballer went over, greeted everyone in turn and pleasantly surprised the Portuguese man’s companions.

From the age of six to 11, Mbappé played for the Bondy youth team, where his father Wilfried was the coach. In those years, Kilian’s room was decorated with posters of footballers, not superheroes like his friends. The walls were decorated with posters of Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo. In France, Zizou was an icon for boys of all ages, and Kris was becoming a symbol of the new generation.

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Kylian had no doubt that he would become a professional footballer. Of course, he could only dream of the fame of his idols, but he believed in his own abilities. Already in 2004, Mbappé sang ‘La Marseillaise’ loudly and confidently and assured everyone around him that one day he would play for the French national football team. And when a family friend gave Kylian a model of the Santiago Bernabéu, he promised that one day he would take his uncle to the stadium of the royal club.

Faiza, the future star’s mother and a local government employee, was constantly called to the school because of her son’s behaviour and academic performance. She was angry, but she always told the teachers that her child was special. She tried to get him interested in something other than football — swimming, museums, even the flute — but Kylian found it all unnecessary. Faiza scolded her son for this, but deep down she understood. She had played handball professionally since the age of 16 and ended her sporting career when Kylian was three years old.

In 2011, the family travelled to London for a few days at the invitation of Chelsea. Mbappé played brilliantly for Bondy and attracted the attention of various Ligue 1 clubs, but it was Chelsea who were the first top club to invite him for a trial. Mbappé performed well during the match against Charlton, so his parents were invited to come for another trial after a while. The talented player’s mother did not like this arrangement. “No, we won’t be coming back. If you want him to play for you, take him now. In five years, he will be worth £50 million,” Faiza told the interpreter.

Meeting Zidane and Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappé’s time at the Clairefontaine national academy is often described as the moment when it became clear that he was the greatest talent of the 1998 generation. This football centre has produced such masters as Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and William Gallas, so for Mbappé, being recognised as the best among his peers was his first serious accolade.

However, former academy director Gérard Préser noted in the documentary L’Équipe that Kylian’s work ethic was not always positively received by coaches and teammates. Many thought Mbappé was smug, but according to Préser, this impression was mistaken. The player quickly grasped and performed tasks with remarkable ease, which sometimes made him look as if he was not giving his all. But in reality, he was simply ahead of his peers in terms of technical and tactical development.

In December 2012, the day before his 14th birthday, Mbappé received an invitation to a trial at Real Madrid. He was met at the airport by Zidane himself, who was coaching the Madrid U17 team at the time. Zinedine invited Kylian into his car to take him to the club’s training ground, but the youngster was confused. ‘Do I need to take off my shoes?’ he asked uncertainly. Zidane just laughed kindly.

The young Frenchman was shown the training complex and introduced to Cristiano Ronaldo. There is even a photograph of the shy teenager posing next to his idol. In 2021, the autobiographical comic book Je M’Appelle Kylian Mbappé was published, which claims that Zidane took the photo.

Mbappé later called the trip ‘the best weekend of his life’ and admitted that after the visit, his dream of playing for Real Madrid became almost an obsession. But his parents still adhered to a different strategy: first, he needed to gain strength in France. Of the local clubs, Cannes was the most persistent. However, the financial terms did not impress the family. ‘Why are you trying to catch a shark with a fishing hook?’ Mbappé Sr. asked the club’s management rhetorically.