'Nightmare' - How the French media reacted to Mbappe's Euro 2020

Cameron Smith

• 29 Jun 2021 11:55 BST

It's fair to say that Kylian Mbappe, and France, disappointed massively at the delayed 2020 European Championship.

The reigning World Cup winners crashed out in the last-16 to Switzerland after a 5-4 penalty shootout loss, despite most tipping them as the favourites to win.

The game ended 3-3 after 90 minutes, despite France holding a 3-1 lead after 80 minutes, as they were stunned by the Swiss.

One man who has shouldered much of the blame is Paris Saint-Germain superstar Mbappe, who missed the decisive penalty in the shootout. It was a poor effort from Mbappe as he was denied by Yann Sommer.

It marked the end of a poor tournament for Mbappe, who failed to score once and provided just one assist in the four games. While the likes of Karim Benzema and Antoine Griezmann were substituted, Mbappe played every single minute of France's campaign, yet Benzema scored four.

His pace constantly caused problems, and his flick in the build-up to Benzema's second goal against Switzerland was delightful. But, those moments were fleeting to say the least, and whilst he was able to stretch defences, he was often nullified by a deep block.

The penalty miss topped things off, and the French media weren't best pleased with his contribution at the tournament.

How did the French media react?

La Provence: "Can he decently continue in Paris, where he stagnates sportingly and takes bad habits from Neymar?

"He excelled on the right in 2018. But he cannot play in the France team where Didier Deschamps only aligns him on the left, a pretext taken that it is now his favourite side for PSG. A fiasco.

"We heard he was the next Ballon d'Or. During this Euro, he was rather the 'Ballon Dort' [pun on Ballon d'Or meaning the 'Ball Sleeps']. Frustrating."

Ouest France: "France saw themselves as too beautiful and we held out a mirror to them, too.

"Mbappe was no longer this young, fresh-faced youngster who burst into the face of the world. He is the star who wants to take his place. A little too much sometimes.

"He finished this Euro without scoring a goal, displaying a lack of effectiveness that became chronic against Switzerland, despite his efforts.

"It was Mbappe who precipitated the fall of his team by missing the last shot in the fateful penalty shootout. A nice slap - his youth is over."

L'Equipe: "Mbappe's nightmare.

"Ineffective for 120 minutes, the striker, missing the last penalty, precipitated the elimination of his own team. The disappointment is terrible.

"There will inevitably be a star before and after June 28, 2021. As a competitor, he will learn from this failure. And from this Euro, in which he's not scored. Everything should not be thrown at the Parisian for this tournament: his splendid touch to set up the second goal against Switzerland and his involvement in the first are not anecdotal.

"But the ex-Monaco player was not born to be satisfied with this type of supporting role. He is programmed to be the hero, the leader of his generation in France and in Europe. And yesterday... he failed. Not just during the penalty shootout."

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Where does Mbappe's future lie?

This performance, and the penalty miss in particular, has thrust Mbappe into the limelight for a negative reason for perhaps the first time in his career, and it's something he'll have to live with.

As for his future, PSG will undoubtedly want to keep him, after all he's scored 132 goals and assisted 56 in just 172 games for the club, but Real Madrid will be interested, and with his PSG contract expiring next summer, this is the perfect time for Florentino Perez to strike. His penalty miss could actually be good news for Real Madrid, as the French media are currently on his back, and he might want to leave the country in favour of a move to Spain.