Kylian Mbappé gave France motivating halftime speech in World Cup final
Kylian Mbappé did everything he could to try and help France become the first nation to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1962 before falling to Argentina on Sunday.
The superstar striker scored three goals, becoming the second men's player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final. Prior to scoring those three goals, Mbappé gave his French team a rousing speech at halftime, when it trailed 2-0, as seen in a new documentary titled "Merci Les Blues."
"It's a World Cup final; it's the match of a lifetime," Mbappé said in the footage in the documentary, which was released Tuesday on the French channel TF1. "We can't get any worse, anyway. Let's go back on the field — either we let them play or we do, we put a little intensity and we go into the duels and we do something else, guys.
"It's a World Cup final. It's done, they scored two goals, we're two goals down. We can come back! Guys, it's something like this only every four years."
French manager Didier Deschamps also expressed frustration during the moment, rhetorically asking the difference between Argentina and France through the first 45 minutes of play.
"It's that they are playing a [expletive] World Cup final and we are not playing in it!" Deschamps said as he slammed his fist on the table.
The halftime speeches helped a bit for France, at least for Mbappé. The then-23-year-old (who celebrated his 24th birthday on Tuesday) scored two goals in two minutes, tying the match in the 81st minute. Mbappé's first goal was the result of a penalty kick, while the equalizer came when he connected on a strike at the top of the box.
With France on the brink of losing again following Lionel Messi's go-ahead goal in the 108th minute, Mbappé's shot from the top of the box hit the elbow of an Argentinian defender, giving France a penalty kick. Mbappé converted on the ensuing shot, forcing the match to go to a shootout.
Kylian Mbappé: Every touch in France's 2022 FIFA World Cup final against Argentina
Mbappé was just one of two French players to score in the shootout, as the club lost 4-2. Even though France didn't win the tournament, Mbappé walked away with a bit of hardware. He won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in the 2022 World Cup, scoring eight goals and notching two assists during the tournament.
Mbappé took a couple days off following France's World Cup loss, celebrating his birthday on Tuesday before reporting back to PSG on Wednesday.
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