Paris St-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe has been appointed France captain to succeed Hugo Lloris, the French football federation (FFF) said on Monday.
French media reported that Mbappe had accepted the captaincy after speaking with coach Didier Deschamps.
“Didier Deschamps has named Kylian Mbappe the new captain of Les Bleus. Antoine Griezmann is the vice-captain,” the FFF said on Twitter.
“Kylian meets all the requirements to have this responsibility. On the field as in the life of the group, by being a unifying element,” Deschamps was quoted as saying.
Mbappe, 24, had been touted as one of the candidates for the role since goalkeeper Lloris retired from international football in January.
This had come weeks after leading France to a second straight FIFA World Cup final, where they were beaten by Argentina.
Mbappe has been capped 66 times and played a key role in their successful 2018 World Cup campaign as well as their runners-up finish in 2022.
France take on the Netherlands at the Stade de France in their first Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday, before travelling to Ireland next Monday.
Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi will be making a return to the second round of this year’s Champions League last -16 first leg tie against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Mbappe was expected to be out for three weeks after suffering a thigh injury earlier this month.
The French forward trained on the eve of Tuesday’s heavyweight contest, a repeat of the 2020 final,which Bayern won 1-0.
“We’re not sure yet whether he will be on the match sheet,” said PSG boss Christophe Galtier on Monday.
Galtier added: “Kylian did the whole session today. We made the decision that he would train with everyone today.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina Lionel Messi who has received treatment for a hamstring problem, has also been named in the PSG squad.
Mbappe and Messi return to the PSG side will be a huge boost for Paris St-Germain, who have lost their past two domestic matches.
The Ligue 1 leaders have never won the Champions League and PSG know they must raise their game to get past Bayern, the six-time European champions.
Bayern Munich have been unbeaten in all competitions since 17 September. 2022.Forward Thomas Muller is relishing two games against PSG, with the return leg in Germany on 8 March.
“Two very good teams with very good players,” said Muller, a two-time Champions League winner, when asked about the tie.
“Sadly one cannot go through to the next round. A big game of football.”
Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo, on Thursday, scored twice in his first non-international match (Saudi debut) despite being punched in the head by a former team-mate, Keylor Navas.
Grimacing in pain from his bruised cheekbone after about 30 minutes in Riyadh, Ronaldo steadied himself before scoring from the penalty spot for his first goal in Saudi Arabia against a Paris Saint-Germain team featuring old foe Lionel Messi.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry has been among the greatest ever.
Messi scored just three minutes into the exhibition game when Ronaldo was flattened boxing-match style by PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas after about 30 minutes in Riyadh.
It was not Anthony Joshua but Navas who caught Ronaldo flush in the face with his forearm under a high ball.
Both went down like felled boxers.
Ronaldo held his head, got back up, did a wide yawn as if to test his sore left cheek, and sent his former Real Madrid teammate Navas the wrong way.
Cristiano Ronaldo fired in a penalty for his first goal
By the end of the first half Ronaldo’s cheekbone was bright apple red but he was all smiles after netting his second goal, smashing in a rebound when his header came back off the post. Poking his tongue out, Ronaldo wheeled away in delight and was mobbed by teammates at the corner flag.
When PSG star Kylian Mbappé checked on the state of Ronaldo’s cheek just before the second half, Ronaldo milked the attention from France’s World Cup star and pointed to the red mark.
Mbappé smiled at him as if to say “You’ll be fine” and Ronaldo raised his arm in triumph like a heavyweight champion.
Messi’s Qatari-backed PSG won 5-4 against a combined XI of Saudi Arabian teams Al Nassr and Al Hilal, captained by Al Nassr’s new signing Ronaldo, in front of 68,000 fans at King Fahd International Stadium. Although his team lost, Ronaldo edged perhaps the final installment of Ronaldo vs. Messi as one of the greatest rivalries in soccer history resumed in an unusual location.
Messi’s shot led to a handball and PSG’s fourth goal, scored by Mbappé from the penalty spot.
Ronaldo came off to a huge ovation just after the hour mark followed by Mbappé and Argentina’s World Cup-winning star Messi, who was warmly hugged by countryman Marcelo Gallardo, coaching the combined Saudi Arabian team.
Ronaldo’s bruise darkened with the night sky as he collected his man of the match award.
He was locked in conversation with ex-Madrid teammates Sergio Ramos and Navas before the medal ceremony. Then he spoke to Portugal teammates Renato Sanches and Danilo, who play for PSG.
But Ronaldo was nowhere near Messi, almost like they avoided each other. They could not do that earlier on the field, when Ronaldo tackled Messi in the second minute.
Moments later, Messi smiled as he scored from Neymar’s lofted pass. Ronaldo looked annoyed with his teammates for letting Messi ghost into space. Harsh, because few defenders have ever tracked Messi’s runs, let alone stopped them. The World Cup proved that if it was ever in doubt.
There was scant interaction between former Madrid star Ronaldo and Messi, his arch-rival during Barcelona’s glory days.
It was Ronaldo who tentatively approached an impassive-looking Messi at the center circle seconds before the whistle blew to start perhaps their final game as opponents.
There was a polite exchange, the briefest handshake.
Messi stared at Ronaldo late in the first half, after PSG defender Juan Bernat had been sent off, and Ronaldo seemed to look away from Messi.
It was a different mood in the tunnel beforehand, when a grinning Ronaldo hugged Ramos, who now plays alongside Messi, and joked with Ramos that he’d forgotten to remove an ear stud.
The laugh was on Ramos later, when he air-kicked a loose ball on Ronaldo’s second goal. PSG’s Neymar also missed, from the penalty spot.
The atmosphere built before the start as fans waved Argentina flags while others held up the yellow jersey of Al Nassr, pointing proudly to Ronaldo’s No. 7 on the back. The ticker tape poured from the stands as Ronaldo led his team out. He smiled and winked when he got a loud ovation.
Ronaldo made it a brace after firing in a rebound
Ronaldo could end his storied career in Riyadh after signing a deal worth a reported $200 million a year, swapping Europe’s elite club competition for the Asian Champions League.
He makes his Saudi league debut for Al Nassr on Sunday against Ettifaq, far from the fields where he shone for Manchester United and Madrid.
Lionel Messi heads a 14-man shortlist for the Best FIFA Men’s player award after emerging victorious with Argentina at the just concluded FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The list was announced on Thursday, with voting opening straight away and running through until February 3 before the winner is announced at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony.
Messi and Mbappe stand out completely owing to their exploits at the Mundial in Qatar.
Both players shone like a million stars and that became evident after they both won the golden boot and Most Valuable Player Award.
Kylian Mbappe will be taking on “a huge responsibility” if he becomes the new France captain now, after Hugo Lloris retired from international football.
That is the verdict of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) head coach Christophe Galtier, who steered clear of either recommending the role to Mbappe or putting any pressure on national coach Didier Deschamps.
At the age of 24, Mbappe has already won 66 caps for Les Bleus, scoring 36 goals in the process.
He won the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and scored a hat-trick against Argentina in the 2022 final in Qatar, but he painfully finished on the losing team.
PSG striker Mbappe appears an obvious candidate, but he may not aspire to the captaincy, which Lloris held for 10 years.
Manchester United defender Raphael Varane is another strong contender for the role, according to reports in France, having served as vice-captain at the Qatar World Cup.
Galtier said on Tuesday: “I’m not the national team coach. I’m not going to get involved in the France captain discussion.
“Sometimes, the France captain is of a certain age with a certain number of caps.
“Kylian Mbappe has got many under his belt and many incredible performances. I haven’t spoken to Kylian Mbappe about whether he will be the France captain or not.
“Of course, that is a huge responsibility. It is not me who will decide who the captain will be. Even without the armband, he is a leader.”
La Liga giants Real Madrid spy a new chance to prise Kylian Mbappe away from Ligue side Paris Saint-Germain.
Real president Florentino Perez was already counting on his arrival ahead of the 2022/23 season, but at the last minute the player rejected the proposal and stayed in France.
This left a bad feeling in the Spanish capital, and it seemed that the possibility of seeing Mbappe in white was completely gone.
However, Real Madrid may have already forgiven Mbappe, as La Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting that the Spanish side have one billion euros ready to sign the French star in the summer of 2023.
It is being claimed that Real Madrid would pay 150m euros for the transfer, 630m euros in salary and 220m euros in commissions.
Nothing has been confirmed in Madrid, and it is hard to believe that the club would pay so much money for a player, and even more so when Florentino Perez felt betrayed by the sudden change of decision in the summer of 2022.
Still, Mbappe is set to be the star of the next decade and Real Madrid to like to have the best in the world wearing white.
Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe was seen laughing at England captain Harry Kane after his penalty miss against France.
Kane blazed a late spot-kick high over the bar as England suffered World Cup heartbreak on Saturday night.
The striker had already beaten his Tottenham team-mate Hugo Lloris once from 12 yards but missed the target with his second as France won 2-1 to reach the semi-finals.
After Kane missed, Mbappe could not hide his delight as France celebrated.
Mbappe was kept relatively quiet by England but his reaction added to a painful night for the Three Lions.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star, Kylian Mbappe has denied that he wants to quit the French giant in January.
The World Cup winner said he was surprised by the news.
“I never asked for my departure in January.
“The information that came out on the day of the [Champions League match against Benfica], I did not understand it. I am not involved in this information neither directly nor indirectly,” Mbappe told reporters after PSG’s 1-0 win over Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
It was claimed Mbappe felt ‘betrayed’ by PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and wanted to leave the Ligue 1 champions as soon as possible.
“I was as shocked by this news as everyone else. People may think I’m involved, I’m not at all.
“I was taking a nap, my entourage was at my little brother’s game. We were stunned when we found out.
“Afterwards, we had to deal with it, we had a match to play. I just wanted to say that it’s completely false, I’m very happy here,” the 24-year-old added.
Paris Saint-Germain star, Kylian Mbappe has topped the Forbes list for highest-earning footballers – the first time someone other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has been number one for nine years.
Forbes estimates that the World Cup winner will earn $128m (£115.2m) this season.
Mbappe’s PSG team-mate Messi is second on $120m (£108m) and Manchester United forward Ronaldo third on $100m (£90m).
Neymar and Mohamed Salah complete the top five.
PSG and Brazil striker Neymar will earn an estimated $87m (£78.4m) in 2022-23 and Liverpool forward Salah $53m (£47.7m).
The last player to top the list other than Ronaldo or Messi was former England captain David Beckham in 2013.
Mbappe signed a lucrative new three-year contract with PSG in May, which ended speculation about a summer move to Real Madrid.
The France World Cup winner has lifted 11 trophies at the club, including four Ligue 1 titles, since joining from Monaco initially on loan in 2017.
Erling Haaland, who has scored 19 goals in 12 games for Manchester City since his summer move from Borussia Dortmund, makes his debut in the top 10 at number six.
The Norway striker is one of four Premier League players in the top 10 along with Ronaldo, Salah and Manchester City team-mate Kevin de Bruyne.
Haaland and Mbappe are the only players on the list aged under 30.
Paris Saint-Germain stars, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, were called to order by coach Christophe Galtier, after both players had a spat in PSG’s UCL defeat of Juventus on Wednesday at Parc de Princess.
The French and the Brazilian have been best of friends since the beginning of season before the imbroglio that ensued in the PSG versus Juventus match.
Both players have enjoyed great relationship between them in the French Ligue 1.
Neymar and Mbappe have begun the season in a fine scoring form but their relationship has faced intense scrutiny following appearing fractious at times.
However, Neymar felt bad when Mbappe after scoring two goals wasted an opportunity to set up Neymar from a goal scoring position in the PSG’s Champions League 2-1 win against Juventus in mid-week
The pass would have enabled Neymar to score with a likely tap-in against Juventus.
Speaking on the development ahead of PSG’s Ligue 1 tie against Brest on Saturday, Galtier said at his pre-match press conference, “The relationship is very good. That’s the truth. They’re often together in training.
“Yes, there’s a situation in a match, but having spoken to Kylian Mbappe yesterday and I have also spoken to Ney, and from the discussion with Kylian Mbappe, there were two moments.
“There was the first acceleration when there was possibly a chance to pass the ball, but it was more difficult. The second time was when Kylian Mbappe got into the penalty box and didn’t see Ney.
“When you see the clip, it looks simple, but at the time, he had to make a decision. Kylian Mbappe was focused on the ball for shooting.
“I am convinced that Kylian Mbappe will get assists for Neymar, just as Neymar is capable of performing assists for Kylian Mbappe.
“There is nothing else negative about that since that piece of play in the game.”
It was a different mood in the tunnel beforehand, when a grinning Ronaldo hugged Ramos, who now plays alongside Messi, and joked with Ramos that he’d forgotten to remove an ear stud.
