Kylian Mbappé tames the right wing to address France’s problems

In the build-up to the game against Austria, Mbappé urged France’s youth to vote and warned that “extremists are at the gates of power”.

France's Kylian Mbappé (right) and Austria's Nicolas Seiwald battle for the ball. Picture: Nick Potts/PA Wire.

L'ironie of it all was immediately apparent: after this week of all weeks Kylian Mbappé had to come tame the right wing to fix France’s problems.

Half-time was hovering into view above Dusseldorf’s confounding arena — a sturdy steely data centre-cum-car park on the outside, steep cauldron of cascading noise in — and Didier Deschamps’ blue bloods were just beginning to toil.