A lot can come out in the wash of a World Cup cycle. Some players shrink beyond repair on a hot wash – we’re looking at you, James Rodriguez – while others emerge gleaming, spotless and free of that spaghetti bolognese you ended up wearing after a chianti too many.
Kylian Mbappe’s career started at a frankly ludicrous pace, and he found himself kissing the World Cup trophy on a rainy Moscow evening four and a half years ago, aged 19. Of course, he wasn’t totally unknown then.
Two seasons earlier, Mbappe had shocked Europe with some outstanding Champions League performances for Monaco, who also clinched the Ligue 1 title. That summer, in 2017, there was that massive move to Paris Saint-Germain for €145 million, where he hit the ground running alongside fellow arriviste Neymar. Yet, on the world stage, the teen was still not among the biggest stars, biggest names or biggest conversations.
Not long before the tournament’s kick-off in Russia, there was even debate in France around Mbappe’s role in the national team. Should he start? Should he be the super sub? Where did he fit in?
Les Bleus had reached the
