A new documentary has revealed the stirring half-time speech Kylian Mbappe gave to his France teammates at the World Cup final.
The 24-year-old is heard motivating his international teammates after they trailed Argentina 2-0 after a subpar first-half performance.
Mbappe and France coach Didier Deschamps were featured in a documentary titled “Merci Les Bleus” that was broadcast on the French channel TF1 on Tuesday.
The World Cup final is a once-in-a-lifetime event, according to Mbappe. “Anyway, things can’t get any worse. Come on, boys, let’s get back on the field. Either we let them play or we don’t, we put in a little effort, we engage in some duels, or then we do something else.
“It’s a World Cup final. It’s done, they scored two goals, we’re two goals down. We can come back! Guys, it’s something like this only every four years.”
Deschamps was shown slamming his fist on the table and added: “Guys, I’ll tell you without getting upset. Do you know the difference?
“It’s that they are playing a f—ing World Cup final and we are not playing in it!”
The team talk eventually had the desired effect, as France scored two quickfire goals through Mbappe to make it 2-2 and take the game into extra time.
The game had to go to penalties as Lionel Messi gave Argentina a 3-2 lead before Mbappe scored his hat trick from the penalty spot. The World Cup was won by Argentina for the first time since 1986 after they prevailed in the shootout.
Thousands of people cheered France on when they appeared at the Place de la Concorde on Monday night, despite the fact that they were unable to defend their World Cup victory in Russia in 2018. Despite this, France was accorded a warm welcome when they returned to Paris.