Not only did he make the legendary number 10 of the French team famous, Kylian Mbappé also became a role model for many children who are nurturing their football dreams.
After scoring a hat-trick against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, although he could not win the highest position, Kylian Mbappe still captured the hearts of fans with his performance.
On the pitch, the French striker impresses with his speed, technique and precise finishing. And out there, another generation of French kids are dreaming big, dreaming of becoming the “next Mbappé” of French football.
Kylian Mbappe is considered the future of world football
“Sweet fruit” of youth training system
Mbappé is the product of a spectacular development system, the latest in a never-ending stream of top talent to be developed by the European nation. In fact, with its success in development, France is said to be far ahead of Brazil, Germany and other powerhouses and is considered a “factory” for football talent.
Since the end of the Cold War, no country has been able to sustain its footballing success through multiple generations of players. With Les Bleus, they won their first World Cup in 1998, then in 2006 they reached the final again, losing to Italy. Twelve years later, they successfully defeated Croatia to win the title in 2018 and went on to reach the final of the 2022 World Cup.
French football has quality number 10s
At the moment, while Brazil, Germany and Italy still have more titles overall, reaching the final for the fourth time in just 24 years allows them to assert themselves as the team with the best record at the World Cup in the past three decades, having lifted the prestigious trophy two out of four times.
Notably, in the last two times France reached the World Cup final, Kylian Mbappé always grabbed the attention with his talent. After the 24-year-old brought the gold cup back to France for the first time, his former training center immediately received a lot of attention.
At the age of 24, Mbappe has twice reached the World Cup final with the French national team.
Talent “factory”
AS Bondy, where Mbappé played as a boy, is considered one of the starting points in France’s football talent “factory”. And what Mbappé has brought to the country’s football scene has given many young players confidence in what they can do in the future.
The 24-year-old striker is a role model for many young players.
“Mbappé motivates me, makes me want to train harder,” said 12-year-old Yacine Ngamatah, who scored four of his team’s 10 goals in a match against a club from another suburb of Paris.
Yacine is reportedly trying out for Dijon, a professional team playing in the French second division. In addition to his finishing ability, Ngamatah also possesses the ability to move tirelessly. For this reason, his teammates have nicknamed him N’Golo Kanté. This nickname is taken from the name of the famous midfielder of the French national team. In the past, Kanté also started his football career in a local Paris team, Suresnes.
Yacine’s father, Eric Ousmane Ngamatah, said: “We have nothing to envy the Brazilians. France has a large number of football players at the moment, especially in the Paris region.”
Players at AS Bondy, the club where Kylian Mbappé played football as a child
When it comes to youth development, however, money is just one issue. France invests heavily in facilities, with pitches, parks and playgrounds across the Paris region and beyond, and plenty of youth coaches and teams.
But as around the world, football remains at its core a cheap and exciting pastime for children from poor families, and a possible escape for Bondy’s working-class kids. And so the brilliance of a poor suburban kid like Mbappé has sparked hope for a new generation.
The dream named “Mbappe”
As mentioned above, the success of Mbappé and other stars in the French national team has inspired and motivated countless children who love football.
Sari, the coach of the under-13 team, said Mbappé’s influence was so great that many young players imitated and quickly mastered dribbling moves or feints similar to what Mbappé shows on the field.
The painting is located in Mbappé’s hometown of Bondy, France.
Not only Mbappé, defender William Saliba, a player born in Bondy, is also one of the members of “Les Bleus” attending this year’s World Cup. Sharing about his teammate Mbappé, he said:
“Everyone learns through examples (like Mbappé). We are lucky to have such examples in the national team.”
Kylian Mbappe lights up the dreams of many football-loving children in his hometown
As for dreams of success, parents understand that not many children can reach the heights like Mbappé, but no one taxes children’s dreams.
During the match on December 17, Rabiah Bertrand, a parent who was shivering on the sidelines watching her 12-year-old son play in freezing temperatures, said:
“When I watch the French team play, I get emotional, because I think maybe one day my son will play with them . The kids are telling themselves that whatever Kylian can do, he can do too. We dream of the same thing. Everything in life is possible.”
