Project Mbappé: The making of France’s football superstar

The plan was always to make Kylian Mbappé the world’s best player but it was done with warmth and good advice instead of pressure

SUPER STAR: Kylian Mbappe

THERE have been points this week when it has seemed that England were not about to face a team in the World Cup quarter-final, but a single player. Kylian Mbappé has dominated the plotline like Diego Maradona did in the past and Cristiano Ronaldo wished he could do in the present.

The France forward already has five goals to his credit in this World Cup, to add to the four he scored in Russia four years ago. Nine in total – that’s one more than Maradona and the same as Ballon d’Or winners Eusébio and Paolo Rossi. He could still be on his way to becoming a double world champion before reaching his 24th birthday.