With Kylian Mbappé, records fall even when he no longer puts one stud in front of the other. Offside record on Saturday evening for his first classico, record for top 10 in the Ballon d’or rankings without ever seeing his name come out of the envelope, tied with another French player who was not too disgusting when he started on the left side , Thierry something. Thierry Henry, that’s it.
In detail? Henry 4th in 2000, 9th in 2001, 6th in 2002, 2nd in 2003, 4th in 2004, 4th in 2005, 3rd in 2006. Mbappé 7th in 2017, 4th in 2018, 6th in 2019, 9th in 2021, 6th in 202 2, 3rd in 2023, 6th in 2024. A very paltry record to throw directly in the dumpster with Richard Gasquet’s 8th Grand Slam finalist trophies.
Never better than the top 10 every year?
No, let us agree, let us make it a matter of national pride: above all, no patriotic-chauvinist indignations to open our veins on Cnews or an outraged press release from the Elysée, the world is suffering enough like that. Moreover, no one had any illusions about the chances of the “Kyks” this season, weighed down by its infamous Euro and questionable individual performance since January, despite a few pawns here and there to hide the misery. If even Vinicius didn’t get it, it’s not with two hat-tricks against Trouville and Sucy-en-Brie that Donatello was going to make the difference.
Usually we would have said something like “it will be for next year”, a bit like the main person concerned, moreover, who always put forward the idea of a form of coherent progression until the end. supreme reward.
In 2017, upon his arrival at PSG:
« “Individually, my goal is to score a lot of goals and help Neymar. He can help us lift a lot of trophies, so we have to take care of him. I will do everything to help him win this Ballon d’Or. It would make me happy, I could touch him like that” »
After his 4th place in 2018
« “The good thing is that it shows how far I also have to go to win a prize like this. Otherwise it would be too easy to arrive and win everything at once like that (laughs). What am I missing? Be decisive from January to December. I had a few excuses but a Ballon d’Or has no excuses” »
Before the ceremony in 2021
« “Of course the objective is to win it, one or more. but there is a process and I am on the right path” »
In 2022, in France Football
« I have never left the top 10. This is proof that I am gradually starting to settle into the minds of the jurors. The Ballon d’Or is one of the major events for top players. Now I think I belong to this elite of potential winners. I believe I am credible to claim this award” »
In June 2023, after the rule change
« “The Ballon d’Or? It’s always difficult to talk about an individual trophy, with people it doesn’t necessarily go down well but with the new criteria, being impactful, burning the retina. I think I match these criteria, we’ll see but I remain optimistic” »
A year later, everyone vaguely feels that the tide has turned. Without pushing the parallel with Henry to the end (no more appearances in the top 10 after 2006), the idea slowly sets in that Mbappé could have had it, certainly, but above all that he will never have it. The signing for Real two years too late in the storytelling, Barça which (re) sets up a generational team around Yamal, an obvious technical stagnation, an increasingly borrowed physique, the invisible complementarity with Vinicius, a clumsiness now recurring in the surface, an increasingly distanced relationship with the national team and the French public…
Qatar, a sweet memory that fades away
Without even prejudging the possible legal consequences coming from Sweden, the signs of a suffering career are starting to accumulate, and over the last six months, we can easily put ten guys above just at his position, from Raphinha to Saka, via Nico Williams. Finally, when we say his position, we are talking about a side player. Because if we have to count him as a center forward, there, he’s pulling out all the stops with Balogun and Kang-in Lee, and we saw a lot of Madrilenians miss the immense Joselu this weekend.
For a long time, we thought that Bondy’s crack was paying for his troubled relationship with PSG, interpreted abroad as a form of obscene corruption through money and establishing something of an uneasy relationship between Mbappé and the jurors. of the Golden Ball. Last year, a rumor even placed him off the podium, the man who had marched on the world in Qatar.
Eight goals, obviously (eight, dediou), an almost divine visual impression, never seen since Maradona 86 over the entire duration of a competition. And then this final: you have to watch it, again and again, from the 75th minute onwards, to realize it. In the match of the decade, there was Mbappé on his Aladdin carpet, and all the others, stuck at the Saint-Arnoult tollbooth. Will he come as close to the Ballon d’Or as he did that evening in Doha? Most people don’t believe it anymore.
