Why Mbappe to Real Madrid will mean France will win World Cup 2022
Robin Bairner
- 11 Oct 2021 15:37 BST
- 5 min read
Kylian Mbappe was the scorer of the goal that won France the Nations Cup on Sunday with a 2-1 success over Spain at San Siro.
His strike was a controversial one. At first glance, he looked to have been well offside. Even the replays showed that he had strayed beyond the last defender when Theo Hernandez tried to feed a pass to him.
However, a technicality saw the goal stand as Eric Garcia’s touch on the ball constituted a new phase of play and allowed the Paris Saint-Germain forward to score.
Previously, Karim Benzema had registered an equaliser in altogether more emphatic style as he bent a shot home from the corner of the box.
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It will not be lost on Real Madrid fans that the odds are in favour of both men featuring at the Bernabeu next season. Mbappe, after all, is expected to move to the Spanish side when his contract with PSG runs out in the summer.
Over the course of the weekend, France witnessed the promise of a tremendous partnership.
For the moment, though, it remains just this. Mbappe and Benzema combined only sporadically, though when they did, it was inevitably explosive. In part, this was due to being starved of possession while it was also partially due to a lack of game time together. After all, they have teamed up only on eight occasions.
Head coach Didier Deschamps must be enthralled by the prospect of the pairing working together on a daily basis at Real Madrid.
Their individual qualities have already proven sufficient to cut down two of Europe’s finest teams, and there is certainly a sense that they are perhaps operating on about 50% of what they may be capable of.
It is clear that neither yet entirely understands the patterns of the other, yet if they can strike up the type of complicity that comes with training together days on end, it suddenly makes France an altogether more daunting prospect.
At times during the Nations League, Deschamps’ side resembled PSG – a team of brilliant individuals who dovetailed on occasion but not consistently.
Mbappe’s apparently inevitable move to Real Madrid will give him four months to work with Benzema before the defence of their World Cup in Qatar – and this is a transfer that could make all the difference to France’s hopes.
