The reason why Kylian Mbappe refused to play for the French national team was not simply to recover from his injury.
“In Mbappe, the 2025 Ballon d’Or award is the most important goal, and I think it is ideal to play only important games in France,” France’s “Foot Mercato” reported on the 12th (Korea Standard Time).
Mbappe has always been one of the leading contenders for the Ballon d’Or, but he has never won one. In the early days of his career, he couldn’t afford to give his business card because it was time for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to engage in a fierce competition, and recently he failed to win the UCL at the Paris Saint-Germain Champions League, which hampered his team’s decision. As he played in the French league, his attack indicators were relatively undervalued in some aspects.
For Mbappe, the next few years will be an important time to decide whether he will win the Ballon d’Or or not. Ahead of this season, he made his childhood dream come true by moving to Real Madrid, and Real is always one of the strongest candidates in the UCL. The fact that there are many players who will share the topic such as Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham is a source of anxiety, but given that France has better performance in recent international competitions than Brazil or England, Mbappe is more likely to win the Ballon d’Or than Brazil or England.
The main variable is injury. Mbappe, who had been boosting his skills by scoring goals in five consecutive matches for Real, injured his hamstring in the match against Alaves. Fortunately, he did not have a major injury and returned to the UCL match against Lille shortly afterwards, but was not named as a member of the French national team for an A-match in October. Back then, most expected that he had prepared for a possible injury, and French coach Didier Deschamps also defended Mbappe, saying that the interests of the club and the national team are inevitably different, and that the player’s employer is the club, not the federation. 스포츠토토
As a result, the report that Mbappe, who is trusted in France enough to make the captain’s team, prioritizes the Ballon d’Or over the national team is controversial. “Real gave Mbappe a week off during the A-match break,” Foot Mercato said, explaining that recovery from injury is also the reason he did not play for the national team, but added, “Many players have criticized the excessive number of games recently, and French national team players have also joined the team. One thing is for sure, if Mbappe grows dissatisfaction with his transfer from the national team, he has decided to put more emphasis on his success as a real player,” he said, noting that Mbappe could give up some of his national career for Ballon d’Or.