At the full-time whistle, Kylian Mbappe headed straight over to the blue cool box by the side of the pitch and took a swig of water. He shrugged in a c’est la vie kind of way as he contemplated the scene.
France had just been knocked out of Euro 2024 by Spain, losing 2-1 in the semi-final. This was a time for straight talking.
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“The competition was a failure,” said Mbappe post-match. “I wanted to be European champion and we’re not. You can’t complicate football too much. You’re either good or you’re not. I wasn’t good and we’re going home — it’s that simple.”
In the context of this elimination, it was hard to contemplate there had earlier been hope that Munich would be Mbappe’s stage to finally impose himself properly on this tournament.
As the game kicked off, France’s captain, maskless for the first time since breaking his nose in Les Bleus’ opening match, performed a couple of shuttle sprints down the left wing while the ball was on the right. He tapped the points of his boots on the grass as if to activate their special powers.
He looked like he was in the mood. It was the 25-year-old’s pinpoint cross eight minutes in that was headed home by Randal Kolo Muani, the first goal scored by a France player from open play at the tournament.
Yet all that was eclipsed. This France team were outclassed by Lamine Yamal’s ridiculous curling effort to equalise, followed four minutes later by Dani Olmo’s decisive strike. There was to be no French revival. This was the end.
A European Championship winner’s medal is the only honour Mbappe lacks from his time with the national team. He had not hidden his ambitions to add it to his collection before the tournament started. “I’m in a vindictive frame of mind,” he said. “As a player, I still have everything to prove at the Euros.” But in his first tournament as captain, he did not live up to his reputation as a player; that is why he considers Euro 2024 a failure.
In hindsight, he might have seen this coming. Mbappe endured a difficult preparation for this tournament. With his future committed to Real Madrid, he played fewer minutes for Paris Saint-Germain towards the end of the season than he has done since 2019-20. “We have to get used to playing without him,” PSG head coach Luis Enrique said in March by way of an explanation of the striker’s limited role.
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He was also carrying a back issue and acknowledged France’s warm-up games were valuable in helping him “get back into the best possible shape”.
Then there were matters off the pitch. Just before joining up with France, Mbappe said he was “liberated” having signed a five-year contract with Real Madrid, putting an end to a drawn-out transfer saga. The residual tensions lingered, though, as PSG had not paid his salary over his last two months at the club.
France’s political strains caught his attention. He impressively held court on the eve of their first game against Austria when asked about his nation’s upcoming elections.
“We’re at a crucial moment in our country’s history,” Mbappe said. “The Euros has a very important place in our careers, but we’re citizens above all and I don’t think we should be disconnected from the world around us, even less so when it concerns our country.”
Whether outside noise in relation to his former club or politics had an effect on Mbappe is unknown.
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Then came the football. Mbappe started with a bang of the wrong kind, smashing head-first into Austria defender Kevin Danso’s shoulder and breaking his nose. Speculation swirled around the French camp. Would he have surgery? When would he return? Was his Euros over? Mbappe said it was a “scary” experience and told himself he was going home. Inundated with information and appointments, he could not sleep for two days, but that would be just one grievance.
He had to cope with the consequent bruising and swelling around his nose and the inconvenience of wearing a mask. He hated it; it limited his vision, sweat clogged up stinging his eyes, and he was constantly swapping masks in a helpless attempt to make playing with any of them more comfortable. “Each time there was something wrong,” he said.
Mbappe watched from the sidelines as an unused substitute in France’s second group game against the Netherlands four days later. When he returned for France’s third match against Poland, it looked like the captain felt the onus of propelling this side forward was on him alone. He had five of France’s eight shots on target and mustered eight take-ons, the most attempts of any of his team-mates.
A penalty, dispatched emphatically and only France’s second goal of the tournament, provided some relief but, as the competition went on, no one else took the goalscoring burden off him.
The knockout stages were branded a fresh start for this underwhelming side, but Mbappe, along with his team-mates, could still not find their mojo against Belgium. The glimpses of brilliance the captain displayed were undermined by wayward shots. Surely this barren patch would end soon? But the Frenchman was very candid about not feeling his best. “I don’t think I’ve got my legs back,” he said. “To really be at 100 per cent, explosive quick, I need a good physical preparation.”
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He did not hold back in pointing out the impact of Paul Pogba’s absence on his game, too. “With Pogba, all you have to do is put your head down, run and make a call. You know the ball’s going to come to your feet. With the players we have, maybe we can play less in behind.”
The quarter-final against Portugal was pitched as the changing of the guard, as Mbappe took the baton from Ronaldo on the world stage, but he would want to erase his performance from the memory: an offside, an uncharacteristically misplaced pass straight to Portugal’s midfield and miscommunication with his team-mates. A mess. At half-time of extra time, he told Deschamps he could no longer carry on and was replaced before his team-mates plunged themselves into a victorious penalty shootout.
“Kylian and Antoine Griezmann are not playing their best football,” admitted Deschamps. “But they are hanging in there.”
The toughest opponent was yet to come. Spain provided a new level of threat — the kind against whom France would look to Mbappe for inspiration. “Physically, even if he seems slightly off, he will be on that pitch,” said Deschamps before the semi-final. “I am convinced Kylian is in the right headspace and will do everything, as everyone will, to give 110 per cent.”
On Tuesday it seemed Mbappe, who did not wear his mask because he was “fed up with it”, was turning up the heat. He ran at Spain’s defence and unleashed two snapshots. He was aggressive. He was willing. But there was no way through.
Unlike his opponent, Mbappe could not find the required cutting edge. His best chance came four minutes from the end when he swept inside onto his right foot but, as the Spanish braced themselves, could only blast the ball over the bar.
“I have to score (in that situation),” he admitted after the game. “At the very least, I have to hit the target. That’s the harsh reality of football.”
Both Deschamps and Mbappe know he underperformed. Sometimes your body cannot do what your mind wants you to. “It’s been a long year — I’m going on holiday to rest, it will do me a lot of good,” Mbappe added. “After that, I’m leaving for a new life.”
The hope is he will arrive at Real Madrid revived and refreshed and eager to put an underwhelming Euro 2024 behind him.
(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
