During the last international break, France‘s head coach Didier Deschamps shocked fans by omitting captain Kylian Mbappe from the national team squad, citing the star’s struggles at Real Madrid. A month later, Mbappe addressed the controversial decision in an exclusive interview.
Deschamps had aimed to secure first place in UEFA Nations League A in November, but he chose to field a squad without his marquee player for matches against Israel and Italy. While France clinched the top spot, speculation swirled about Mbappe’s future with the team and his captaincy. Speaking to Canal+, Mbappe reflected on the situation with a mix of nostalgia and understanding:
“Yes, I miss it, because I haven’t been there for a long time. In September I asked the coach not to go. I had just arrived in Madrid. I had a very short vacation. The coach insisted that I go. After October I got injured, I wasn’t on the list, I was talking to them, and the coach told me it was better not to call me up. He’s the boss, I’m behind him. I wanted to go, but I can’t say why they didn’t call me.”
Mbappe acknowledged his fitness concerns, which ruled him out of the October games, but subtly pointed to Deschamps as the driving force behind his absence despite his eagerness to play. He also analyzed the current state of the French national team and its ambitions.
“At the moment we have reached two finals, one useless. We have to re-establish order. It’s a bit complicated, but we always knew how to do it, how to get back to the right place. If I manage to get two stars out of the three on the jersey? It wouldn’t be bad,” Mbappe told journalist Moloud Achour.
One of the most talked-about moments of Mbappe’s absence was Deschamps’ revelation on Telefoot that the striker was going through “a complicated situation“. “Whether it is going as far as depression I don’t know, but it is a psychological state that is fragile. It is the head that commands the legs,” Deschamps noted, prompting widespread concern.
When asked about it, Mbappe addressed these claims, denying any struggles with depression. “I had moments when I was tired, but I was not depressed. There are people who are very depressed, we have to help them,” Mbappe stated. “At one point I felt exhausted, because I haven’t rested. I have had sporting disappointments. But the other thing is just talking for the sake of talking, which is free,” he ended.
The controversy surrounding his absence raised questions about Mbappe’s commitment to the national team. As the squad’s leader, his sudden exclusion sparked debates among fans. However, Mbappe was quick to reaffirm his dedication, referencing the challenges he endured during Euro 2021:
“At Euro 2021 they lied from the first to the last day, they called me a monkey, they put the responsibility for some failures on me. It’s the French national team, I’ve always given my all. You serve your country and that’s it, it’s writing for the sake of writing, talking to hurt you. To make you unhappy.
I always put the French national team at the highest level. I did everything I could to represent it as well as possible. I broke my nose and people tell you that they don’t care about you, that you focus more on Madrid than on France. But I don’t give up,” Mbappe stated.
