Kylian Mbappe may have lost the World Cup final against his PSG teammate and a gem of a footballer Lionel Messi, but the youngster’s mentality can never be put in a doubt. The France striker literally single-handedly dragged his side from two goals down to go level with the Argentines in the final ten minutes of the regular time. Mbappe then won and converted another penalty in the extra-time to cut out Argentina’s lead and take the final to the penalty shootout.
He once again stepped and scored France’s first penalty, but was let down by his teammates Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni who missed their chances to hand in Argentina the title. However, his display in the final will go down as one of the greatest in the history of the competition, as he also became the first player since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a World Cup final hat-trick. And now, in a dressing room footage released by TF1, Mbappe can be seen taking the leadership duties as well with an X-rated speech during the half-time of the final when France were two goals down.
We must pull it off: Kylian Mbappe inspires France’s comeback with fiery speech
Kylian Mbappe had a shot at making history with France, by defending the World Cup for the first time in 60 years, and win his second title at a mere ae of 23. However, his dream fell flat within 36 minutes of the final, when Messi and Angle di Maria gave Argentina a comfortable two-goal lead. The French supporters were dead silent and the thousands of Argentines erupted as if they knew it was over before the full-time whistle was blown.
But Mbappe wasn’t going to give-up just yet, as he delivered an angry half-time talk in the dressing room which sparked France’s comeback in the second-half. The PSG forward himself netted two goals in two minutes; first a penalty resulting from Nicolas Otamendi’s foul on Kolo Muani and then a brilliant volley from the latter’s pass to equalize things. TF1 gave an insight on the 24-year-old’s half-time talk by releasing the footage of the same, wherein he rants at his teammates:
“It’s the World Cup, guys. it’s the match of a lifetime. Whatever happens, we can’t do any worse than what we did [in the first half]. We’re going back out there on to the pitch: either we let them play us like idiots, or we put a bit of intensity into the game, get into the one on ones and change things, guys. It’s a World Cup final. We are two goals down. We can come back! Oh guys, something like this only comes round once every four years.”
Le discours de Kylian Mbappé à la mi-temps de France-Argentine capté par les caméras de TF1 !
« C’est le match d’une vie, on ne peut pas faire pire ! » ??️
— Hadrien Grenier (@hadrien_grenier) December 20, 2022
Such was the intensity that he himself went on two net twice to take the game to the extra time. However, when Messi scrambled a goal past Hugo Lloris in the 108th minute, it looked surely over for France despite all the hard work. But Mbappe wasn’t going anywhere as he then won a penalty in the 118th minute with Gonzalo Montiel trying to block his shot with his arm inside the penalty box.
A calm and composed Mbappe slotted his second penalty and third goal of the night which had the Lusail Stadium shaking with the celebrations of the France fans. With three minutes added on at the end of the second-half of the extra time, Kolo Muani had a golden opportunity in the last minute of it to score a winner, only for Argentina shot-stopper Emiliano Martinez to come up big and deny the striker.
Argentina finally prevailed in the shootout and took home the trophy, but Kylian Mbappe too didn’t return empty handed. The striker won the Golden Boot with 8 goals, the most by any player at the tournament. However, the devastating expression on his face told the whole story as he was evidently not content with the accolade and wanted to lift the coveted World Cup trophy for a second time in a row.