‘This World Cup is over, but the story goes on’ – Kylian Mbappé releases open letter to France fans | OneFootball

France captain Kylian Mbappé (27) has released an open letter in several major French newspapers on Monday a full week after the 2026 World Cup’s conclusion. Mbappé, who topped the tournament’s goalscoring charts, expressed his gratitude to his team-mates, Didier Deschamps’ departing staff and the supporters that made the trip to America or watched from afar.

“We didn’t bring home the trophy. It hurts and it will continue to hurt for a while, I’m not going to lie to you about that”, Mbappé wrote regarding Les Bleus’ failure to qualify for the final on the back of their 2-0 semi-final loss to eventual tournament winners Spain.

Mbappé reflects that France fans were perhaps ower a better ending, with Les Bleus eventually ending the tournament with another loss, against England in the Bronze final (6-4). “We don’t always choose the end of the story, we choose what we put into it, and we put everything in it. This is something we are proud of.”

With Deschamps’ exit, the French national team will enter a new era with Zinédine Zidane, who is set to be officially announced on Tuesday as the new Les Bleus boss. “This World Cup is over, but the story goes on. There will be other games, other summer or winter evenings where we’ll all come together again in front of this same game, with the same desire intact. We’re not done playing together. Thank you for everything.”

GFFN | Bastien Cheval