Kylian Mbappé could have been the hero of the final with Randal Kolo Muani if the PSG striker had managed to deceive Emiliano Martinez with his half-volley. This was not the case and Argentina led by Lionel Messi triumphed. Two years later, Mbappé spoke about this memory and his reunion with Messi at PSG.
On December 18, 2022, the French team and theArgentine gave us a second part of an anthology finale. Trailing 2 goals to 0 at half-time, the Blues reacted at the very end of the match by returning to equality thanks to a penalty and a volley from Kylian Mbappé. Lionel Messi gave the advantage back to theAlbiceleste in overtime before his ex-comrade PSG put the two teams back on par.
“I was mad as hell the first day”
The penalties decided between the two selections and turned in favor of theArgentine (3-3 then 4-2). During their reunion at the PSG Campus, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi immediately broke the ice. The new star of Real Madrid revealed the exchanges between the two men for Click X.
“(Laughs). In reality? It's because it's Messi, you respect, he's a living legend. But I was mad as hell the first day (laughs). But what’s good is that the first day when we came back, we broke that ice because you know, you’re a little apprehensive.”
“He told me: it’s okay, you’ve already won once, you have to let me win too”
In interview with Mouloud Achour on Canal+, Kylian Mbappé also confided the surprising remarks of Lionel Messi.
“We fought a battle (in Qatar) that everyone saw, and afterwards we find ourselves on the same team. And the first thing was we were both laughing and he said to me “it’s okay, you’ve already won once, you have to let me win too”. I had already won, you see. And then we recalled memories together from the final, because it's good to have the guy opposite, know what he thinks, and we laughed and in the end we did a second part season where we got along really well. I think this (World Cup) final brought us even closer together in the end.”
