By Daniel Villar Pardo
By Daniel Villar Pardo
With Lionel Messi’s move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, he and Kylian Mbappe became teammates. The teammates went on to face each other in the 2022 World Cup final, where Argentina beat France on penalties.
Mbappe and Messi got to see each other again only a few weeks later, with both showing upat PSG’s trainingground. Flash-forward to 2024, neither of them is still playing in the Ligue 1.
While the Argentine star took his talents to Inter Miami in 2023, the French striker joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2024. But in a recent interview with French TV channel “Clique TV,” Mbappe looked back at his reunion with Messi after the Qatar 2022 final, revealing the first thing the 8x Ballon d’Or winner told him.
“After the World Cup final, when I saw Messi at PSG training, I was still so mad (laughs). But he told me I had already won it before, and now it was his turn,” Mbappe said. “I was incredibly angry, but you respect it because it’s Messi. We broke the ice by laughing together because we had fought a battle. We created memories from the final. I think that final brought us closer.”
FOOTBALL World Cup 2022 Final Argentina France 18 12 2022 Kylian Mbappe France left claps with Lionel Messi Argentina
Mbappe has consistently expressed his respect for Messi, acknowledging that he has learned a lot from the Argentine legend, whom he describes as a “special” player. Mbappe often reflects on how Messi is able to maintain such an extraordinary level of performance.
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A genius recognizes another genius. Messi has already recognized Kylian’s impressive talent and had some surprising words towards him. “Kylian is a different player,” Messi told TUDN in 2022. “He’s a beast, he’s very strong one-on-one, he finds space and he’s very quick. He can score a lot of goals, he’s a very complete player and he’s been showing that for years. In the next few years he’ll be among the very best, no doubt about it.”
Messi was undoubtedly right, as the French star has accumulated 382 goals and 113 assists in 443 career appearances at just 25 years old. In addition, Mbappe has won major titles, including a World Cup, seven French Ligue 1 titles, and the UEFA Nations League, bringing his total to 21 trophies. Within his national team, he is already a superstar, ranking third on the all-time scoring list with 48 goals in 86 matches. He is poised to become France’s all-time top scorer, needing just 10 more goals to set the record.
Daniel Villar Pardo is a trilingual journalist fluent in Spanish, English, and French. He holds a master’s degree in communication and sports journalism from Universidad Europea de Madrid – Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid. Specializing in soccer tactical analysis, Daniel provides real-time coverage of major events, including the FIFA World Cup, MLS, LaLiga, UEFA Champions League, Premier League, and NBA. He also has extensive experience in photojournalism and has covered prestigious events such as Copa América, LaLiga, Liga Betplay Dimayor, Conmebol World Cup Qualifiers, and Liga Endesa.
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