Kylian Mbappe wanted to quit France national team after Euro 2020

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By Martin Graham | 20th Jun 2022

Following his penalty miss against Switzerland at Euro 2020, Mbappe was willing to call time on his international career.

The French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet said Mbappe felt unprotected by the FFF.

The top players in the world always want to win. It is a trait worth emulating. They know you can’t win all the time and are ready to try again after any failure. It is the DNA that makes them champions. A few players fall into this category, but the one that best describes it is Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo never accepts failure. He is always putting a fresh challenge before him and is ready to conquer again and again and again. It is the trait that differentiates him from the others and has given him longevity in the game. Ronaldo is simply a mentality monster.

Not every top player shares this trait. Following new revelations, some actions are better understood now.

It might be the right time to question the mentality of some of the players of this generation. Kylian Mbappe was close to quitting international football after the fiasco of the Euros.

Top player, weak mentality

When Kylian Mbappe did a spectacular u-turn on Real Madrid this summer, the first lesson from his action is that the Frenchman is insecure and has a weak mentality. He refused to test his greatness or challenge himself to become something he isn’t and see how far he could go. Mbappe chose the easy comfort of the unchallenging PSG. Perhaps, winning the World Cup at an early age was more of a negative than a positive.

Revelations following the defeat of Les Bleus to Switzerland at Euro 2020 suggest Kylian Mbappe was ready to quit the France national team. The decision to leave came after the criticism levelled at him following his game-costing penalty miss in that match. In the last-16 of Euro 2020, Mbappe saw his penalty saved by Yann Sommer to kick Les Bleus out of the tournament. The revelation to quit came courtesy of Noel Le Graet, the president of the French Football Federation.

It shows that Mbappe has Lionel Messi as his idol rather than Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi also decided to quit following a loss to Chile in the Copa America final. Messi later rescinded his decision after plenty of pressure.

A decision to quit, pressure to stay

Following the loss to Switzerland, Kylian Mbappe received criticism on social media from angry fans, who were unhappy with him. It led to initial suggestions that the 23-year-old would call time on his international career. The thought of quitting Les Bleus calls to question the mentality of the talented forward.

According to Le Graet, there was a brief discussion between him and Mbappe, and he insisted that the feeling of frustration for Mbappe did not last long. Le Graet said they spoke for about five minutes in his office, and Mbappe was angry. He didn’t want to play for Les Bleus anymore. He felt the Federation did little to defend him in the wake of the penalty miss.

In October 2021, Mbappe said he was ready to walk away from the national team. The French superstar said he didn’t want to be a problem for the team. The Paris Saint-Germain forward later rescinded his decision following pressure on him to continue.