Kylian Mbappe is the exemplary captain of the French team and can lead Les Bleus to conquer the EURO 2024 championship.
Kylian Mbappe deserves the responsibility of captain of the France team. Photo: Sky Sports
Toan won 6 matches, scored 13 goals and conceded only once. The French team is one of the first teams to qualify for EURO 2024, along with Belgium and Portugal.
The 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in Amsterdam was another controlled and effective match for the French team. The Netherlands were without Frenkie de Jong and Cody Gakpo, but France also had to play without some key stars such as Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba and Ousmane Dembele.
The away team was almost under no pressure throughout the match, until the last 10 minutes when Quilindschy Hartman scored to shorten the score for the Netherlands.
Once again, the difference maker was Kylian Mbappe. Previously, the 2022 World Cup top scorer went through 4 consecutive matches without scoring in the Paris St Germain shirt, his longest streak of “failed” matches since August 2017.
The 24-year-old striker was also heavily criticized for his poor performance in the 4-1 loss to Newcastle in the Champions League.
However, Mbappe has now returned to his most familiar job: scoring goals. The double against the Netherlands is really important for Mbappe to regain confidence.
Mbappe debuted for the national team in March 2017 at the age of 18 and scored his first goal in September of the same year against the Netherlands.
A recent double against the Netherlands helped Mbappe reach the mark of 42 goals in the French national team, surpassing Michel Platini to rank fourth behind Antoine Griezmann (44), Thierry Henry (51) and Olivier Giroud (54). At the same time, he had 25 assists in 72 appearances for the team.
There are more than 2 months left until this striker’s 25th birthday. Giroud was 31 years old with 31 goals by the time he made his 72nd appearance for the team. Karim Benzema, at 26 years and 8 months, had just scored 23 goals and 16 assists. Henry is 28 years old, scored 29 goals and 25 assists. Even the great Zinedine Zidane at 29 years old only had 18 goals and 19 assists.
Mbappe scored twice against the Netherlands to help France officially get a ticket to next year’s EURO. Photo: Goal
Mbappe’s performance (0.58 goals per match) for France is very special. At this rate, it won’t be long before Mbappe breaks Giroud’s scoring record for Les Bleus and surpasses Hugo Lloris as the team’s most-capped player.
As for France, they are still winning in typical Deschamps style: solid and effective but not too impressive. However, France have now qualified for their 15th consecutive major tournament, a fantastic achievement. And in those 14 tournaments, they reached the finals 6 times, winning 3 championships (2 World Cups and 1 EURO).
In Germany next summer, Les Bleus will again be among the favorites, especially with Mbappe in the squad. The PSG striker is shouldering the responsibility of captain of the French team well after Lloris retired from international football.
Mbappe won his first six matches as France captain – a feat matched only by Marcel Desailly in 1999.
Les Bleus won the 2018 World Cup after losing the EURO final two years earlier. In the locker room after the victory in Amsterdam, the French players wanted to repeat that, but this time after losing to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final. They wanted to use that disappointment as a catalyst to win the championship. EURO.
