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France captain Kylian Mbappe has written to the nation in a deeply personal open letter after the end of the 2026 World Cup. The Real Madrid star thanked the supporters and his team-mates, while looking back on a tournament that finished in heartbreak for the Bleus in North America.

Mbappe reflects on World Cup heartbreak

One week after a World Cup campaign that ended badly for the French national team, who finished fourth after losing to England in the third place playoff, Mbappe decided to speak directly to the fans through an open letter published in the regional daily press on Monday. The letter, accompanied by personal photographs, including a childhood picture of him standing in front of a poster of his idol Thierry Henry, showed the pain he felt after the team’s failure.

"We didn't bring home a team trophy. It hurts, and it will continue to hurt for a while, I'm not going to lie to you about that," Mbappe wrote.

A powerful message to French fans

A major part of the letter is devoted to the French fans, who followed the team’s journey despite the huge time difference. Mbappe highlighted the commitment of supporters across France and beyond. "You stayed up late, sometimes until the dead of night depending on the time zone, to watch us play on the other side of the world. You gathered at home, in bars, with family or friends, all over France and beyond," he stressed.

"Others were right there with us, in the stadiums, flags draped over their shoulders. Children with shining eyes, men and women of all backgrounds and generations, united by the same joy: the joy of sharing. That's the power of this sport. And you never gave up on us, even in the toughest moments, even when we least deserved it. This story was written by millions of hands, not just eleven on the field, all driven by the same passion.

"Above all, it's passion, the same passion that drives us on the pitch and drives you, in front of the screen and in the stands. That's what we experienced together, an incredible story."

Individual pride and a tribute to the collective

Mbappe ended the tournament as top scorer with an impressive total of 10 goals. Even so, that personal honour remains secondary in his eyes compared with the ultimate target that slipped away from Les Bleus, who were knocked out by eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals. "I take the title of top scorer with pride, but it would have been so much better with the cup as well. Perhaps we owed you a better ending. But we don't always choose the ending of the story, we choose what we put into it, and we put everything into it. We are proud of that," he said.

The captain also made sure to recognise his team-mates, offering a heartfelt tribute to those who helped him post his outstanding numbers: "Thank you to my teammates. Without their work, their runs, their passes, without this team spirit that carried us from the first to the last match, I could never have scored so many goals. This title belongs as much to the team as it does to me. As a child, I dreamed of playing in a World Cup, at least one. I played in three, I won one, and this year, I had the honour of playing in it as captain. I will never forget it."

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Football 'brings us all together'

Mbappe also wanted to acknowledge the work of his mentor Didier Deschamps, who is set to be replaced as France coach by Zinedine Zidane, along with the entire coaching staff: "I've already said what I had to say to Didier, he knows it. Thank you to him, and to all his staff too: physiotherapists, cooks, trainers, drivers, all those people no one ever sees and without whom none of this would be possible. And to those who welcomed us to the United States throughout this tournament."

To finish, Mbappe repeated the basic values of football, the game that has fascinated him since childhood: "Football, at its core, remains a game. A game that we take very seriously, that we work on our whole lives to try to master, but a game nonetheless, with its simple rules that haven't changed since we started playing it: ball, goal, desire to score. That's why it brings us all together with the same passion."