Kylian Mbappé will trudge out in Miami on Saturday nursing clipped wings and thwarted aspirations. The third-place playoff retains some prestige, but it pales next to the broken dream of another final. The regrets from France's semi-final defeat by Spain, their third in three years against the European champions, will linger into the American summer.
The ticking clock
France's no-show on Tuesday makes the sands of time run a little faster for Mbappé. He will be 31 when the next World Cup comes around. At his current rate, he will have made about 700 appearances by then, and there are no guarantees a body of work defined by explosive power can hold up into his fourth decade. Mbappé has nothing to prove, but this tournament had seemed a natural stage for a mid-career rubber stamping of his legacy.
That may still come in diluted form. No player has won two consecutive Golden Boots, and even when looking to the sky and mopping his head with his shirt, Mbappé stood top of that ranking by virtue of having more assists than Lionel Messi. The pair were tied on eight goals.
“I would change Argentina 2022,” Mbappé has said when asked how he would rewrite the past. “That final comes to mind more than the one we won.”
The hat-trick in Lusail and subsequent defeat on penalties remains a sore that refuses to heal. Facing Messi and Argentina one last time in New Jersey could have been the palimpsest for a fresh story and a coronation as the world’s undisputed best.
Tactical frustrations
His frustration was clear in a dissection that could be seen as a rebuke to Didier Deschamps for tactical failures. France were outnumbered in midfield, with Dani Olmo providing balance that Michael Olise could not, and Mbappé was seen only fleetingly before taking pot shots late on. They could not get the ball to him; ultimately, any collective idea was sacrificed to the hope that individual genius would hold sway.
Next chapter
“We have to move on to the next chapter,” Mbappé said. “Because football waits for no one. We have to start over, put this failure behind us, and learn from it.”
There is no suggestion he will call time on his international career. Zinedine Zidane will almost certainly succeed Deschamps, and the tantalising question is whether Les Bleus’ two greatest icons can forge a winning partnership. Even if the vibes are good, Zidane has been out of the fray for five years since leaving Real Madrid. He and his captain must find a way to harness star quality while honing the kind of coherent method that has allowed Spain to outstrip France convincingly.
What version of Mbappé will France find in 2030? It may depend on whether he has finally won a Champions League, with or without a European Championship in two years’ time. It would have seemed unthinkable once, but the trail he once tore through tournaments now demands a new route.