Kylian Mbappe raised eyebrows during a press conference ahead of his participation in Euro 2024 with France. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the 25-year-old revealed he believes the European Championship is more difficult than the FIFA World Cup.
“The Euros are complicated. For me, more complicated than a World Cup,” Mbappe said. “Even if there is more pressure at the World Cup. All the teams know each other, we play against each other all the time. Tactically, it is a very similar soccer.”
A World Cup winner with the French national team in 2018, Mbappe came close to winning the title in consecutive editions but Lionel Messi’s Argentina stood on Les Bleus‘ way at the Qatar 2022 final.
While it sounds strange to hear such a prominent player downplay the difficulty of the World Cup, it also shows how humble Mbappe is about his achievements. The striker will be looking to win his first Euros this summer, so maybe this statement only reflects his desire to add this title to his résumé.
Mbappe questioned the level of soccer outside Europe
Mbappe’s recent comments remind of his controversial take on the level of South American soccer two years ago. Before the 2022 World Cup, the French striker claimed Europe had the strongest teams on the planet.
“The advantage we Europeans have is that we always play between us, in high level matches like the Nations League. When we arrive to the World Cup, we are ready. Brazil and Argentina don’t have that level in South America. Soccer is not as advanced as here in Europe. That’s why the last World Champions are always Europeans.”
Of course, his comments eventually backfired as France ended up losing to Argentina in the World Cup final at Qatar 2022. Still, it looks like Mbappe still believes the same as he sees the Euros as a tougher competition to win than the World Cup.
Mbappe looking forward to playing for Real Madrid
Before telling reporters he wanted to talk about France, and not Real Madrid, in this press conference, Mbappe took a moment to express his happiness for fulfilling a lifelong dream by joining Los Blancos.
“I want to express myself before starting this press conference. It is an immense pleasure, a dream come true. I am extremely proud to arrive at a club that I have always dreamed of,” Mbappe said. “I’m arriving with a lot of humility. There are lots of emotions but I have a responsibility as captain of the France national team. I won’t reply to questions other than those about the national team. I would prefer to protect us because we have a big summer coming up.”