Kylian Mbappé, the captain of the French national football team, has found himself in the crosshairs of a leading French politician after speaking out about his fears of a far-right victory in next year’s presidential elections.
In a lengthy interview with Vanity Fair, the Real Madrid star reiterated his opposition to Marine Le Pen’s party, insisting that athletes have a duty to speak up as citizens. “It affects me. I know what it means and the consequences it could have for my country when people like them come to power,” Mbappé said regarding the potential electoral success of the Rassemblement National (RN) next year.
Jordan Bardella, the president of RN and a likely presidential candidate who currently leads in the polls, wasted no time in responding. He took a sports-focused jab at the forward, just a month before the World Cup. “And I know what happened when Kylian Mbappé left PSG: the club won the Champions League! (And perhaps soon a second time),” Bardella wrote on X.
Mbappé departed Paris Saint-Germain at the start of last season. After numerous failed attempts, the Parisian club clinched the Champions League title last year and will aim for a double in the 2026 final on May 30 in Budapest.
In 2024, the French captain had already described the first-round results of the snap legislative elections—where RN came out on top—as “catastrophic.” “It impacted us,” he recalled in Vanity Fair. “We are citizens, and we couldn’t just stand idly by, thinking everything would be fine, and go off to play.”