Kylian Mbappe believes he should have won the Ballon d'Or in 2018 and was only denied the 2023 prize because France lost the World Cup final on penalties.
A new report in L'Equipe detailing why being named the world's best player remains a point of interest for the Real Madrid star says he has privately claimed he should have been awarded the award in 2018 instead of now teammate Luka Modric. Argentine legend Lionel Messi, who was on the winning side in Qatar, won the 2023 award.
“Mbappé's quest for this individual reward is such that the Frenchman feels capable of taking on all challenges with the white jersey on his back,” L'Equipe's report said. “Privately, he believes the 2018 Ballon d'Or should have been awarded to him and tells himself that the 2023 Ballon d'Or eluded him because of a penalty shootout in which he transformed his team's fortunes. [by scoring a hat-trick].”
Mbappe has scored 14 goals in 25 games for Real since joining from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
Although Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is the early favorite to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or and it is suggested that Real could snub the award as they were so deeply offended by Vinicius Jr. was overlooked in place of Manchester City's Rodri, Mbappe is still confident he did so. a good chance for individual glory.
L'Equipe added: 'By shining with Real, he understood that everything would be done to make him the chosen one, even if the management of the merengue club angrily declared that 'the Ballon d'Or no longer existed' in their eyes. according to the latest awards. However, Mbappé has everything to revive him in the Spanish capital.”
Real are two points clear in La Liga at the halfway stage, but Carlo Ancelotti's men are 20th in the Champions League and may need wins in their final two games to skip the play-off round.
They came from behind late to win dramatically away to Valencia when the league resumed after the Christmas break on Friday, with Modric equalizing four minutes from time before Jude Bellingham grabbed the winner in the 96th minute. Hugo Duro had given Valencia the lead at Mestalla after Vinicius received a red card at 1-0.
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