Mbappe Confirms He Congratulated Messi After World Cup Final Win

Mbappe Confirms He Congratulated Messi After World Cup Final Win

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:21 PM
In this article:
FIFA World Cup logo
FIFA World Cup
International
French Ligue 1 logo
FRA Ligue 1
France
Kylian Mbappé logo
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Lionel Messi logo
L.Messi
Inter Miami CF logoFArgentina logo
  • Kylian Mbappe has cleared the air on rumours about his conduct in the World Cup final
  • Mbappe scored a hat-trick and converted a shootout penalty but Argentina won the game
  • The PSG winger has been accused of not congratulating his club teammate Lionel Messi

The World Cup final pitted club teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe against each other.

Both were influential in the match, but it was the Argentine who reached the ultimate goal.

The French international was then accused of unsportsmanlike behaviour, for not reaching out to his club teammate to congratulate him after he won the only elusive trophy of his career.

Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, World Cup final, PSG, France, Argentina.
Kylian Mbappe says he did congratulate Lionel Messi after the World Cup final win. Photos by Catherine Steenkeste/Visionhaus.
Source: Getty Images

The World Cup golden boot winner with eight goals, who returned to action for PSG last night in the French Ligue 1, confirmed he spoke to the former Barcelona star and offered his congratulations.

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France reached successive World Cup finals and their fourth final under head coach Didier Deschamps, while Argentina reached their second final from the last three editions.

Mbappe awaits Messi's return

Messi is still in Argentina celebrating his World Cup triumph.

He is set to return to training with PSG in the first week of the new year, as confirmed by head coach Cristophe Galtier, as reported by SportsMole.

Speaking after PSG's 2-1 win over Strasbourg, as quoted by Football Espana, Mbappe confirmed he spoke to Messi at the end of the final and congratulated him.

“It was a quest of a lifetime for [Messi], for me too, but I lost and you have to show maturity to congratulate [the other team]. We will wait for Leo’s return for new victories and goals.”

The 24-year-old rescued PSG from the frustrating hands of Strasbourg, and ensured they made a winning start to league return by scoring a last-minute penalty.

Mbappe unbothered by Emi Martinez

Sports Brief also reported on Mbappe saying he is unconcerned by the excessive celebrations and trolling coming his way from Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Martinez has been hugely criticised by many for his rude acts, but Mbappe says he is too busy to be concerned by the shot-stopper's charades.

Messi was also blamed for not controlling his teammate's excesses, and for being all smiles in one of the incidents during the trophy parade in Buenos Aires.

Authors
Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.