Moscow: France wonderkid Kylian Mbappe has shrugged off talk that he could be in contention for the 2018 Ballon d’Or trophy.
After winning a domestic treble with PSG, the 19-year-old Mbappe is spearheading his country’s bid for World Cup glory in Russia. So far he has scored three goals, but more importantly has been a huge threat to rival defenders. Experts have said that he may be in line to win world football’s biggest individual award if he can take his nation all the way in Moscow this Sunday.
But Mbappe is focused on team glory and responded to questions about the Ballon d’Or by telling ‘TF1’: “I couldn’t care less about that. I want the World Cup. I want to sleep with it!”
France’s only previous World Cup triumph came when they hosted the tournament in 1998, but Mbappe was not alive to see Zinedine Zidane spark wild celebrations in Paris.
I don’t care about the Ballon d’Or. All I want is the World Cup. I want to sleep with it!”
Kylian Mbappe
“I wasn’t born in 1998, so I have never seen people on the Champs-Elysees celebrating. I am going to give everything in this final. We will kill ourselves on the pitch to finish the job. I want to see the people of Paris celebrate,” added the teenager.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo is favourite to receive the award again after winning a third straight Champions League crown with Real Madrid. But it is thought that Mbappe or England captain Harry Kane could yet rival Ronaldo by excelling in Sunday’s World Cup final.
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated the Ballon d’Or in recent years, with no other player winning the award since Kaka in 2007.