The 2026 World Cup has not even started yet, but the French national team has quickly become the center of a controversy involving Kylian Mbappe and N’Golo Kante.
The incident stems from a video recorded in the stadium tunnel before the friendly match where France lost 1-2 to Ivory Coast on June 5. While the substitute players were heading out to the dugout area, Kante greeted many of his teammates one by one.
However, when passing by Mbappe, the veteran midfielder did not make any communicative gesture toward the France captain. For his part, Mbappe also did not react or proactively strike up a conversation with his teammate.
The video quickly went viral on social media, attracting millions of views worldwide and generating much speculation about the relationship between the two players. Many people believe this could be a sign of internal tension within Les Bleus right before the World Cup.
The speculations gained more ground when people recalled an incident involving the captain’s armband back in March. In a friendly match against Colombia, Mbappe was brought onto the pitch from the bench and reportedly asked Rayan Cherki to pass a message to Kante to hand back the captain’s armband.
Kante immediately took off the armband and handed it back to Mbappe. Although it was completely appropriate given the Real Madrid forward’s official role as captain, the situation still caused a lot of controversy.
A section of fans argued that Mbappe increasingly has a massive influence in the French dressing room and needs to show more tact in how he behaves toward his senior teammates.
The incident once again shows that every action of Mbappe is under special scrutiny. In his role as the French national team captain, the 27-year-old star not only shoulders professional responsibilities but also has to face the pressure regarding his image and how he demonstrates his leadership role to the public.
