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Kylian Mbappé took to Twitter to reject claims that he wanted to quit the French national team after missing a penalty during a knockout-stage shootout at last summer’s Euros.
In comments to Le Journal du Dimanche, French FA president Noël Le Graët said that the French star was considering leaving the team after France’s shock Euro 2020 exit to Switzerland in the round of 16.
“He found that the Federation had not defended him after his missed penalty and the criticism [on social media],” Le Graët said, translated from French. “…He was angry, he no longer wanted to play in the France team—which he obviously did not think. You know what it is, he is a winner, he was very frustrated, like all of us, by the elimination.”
However, Mbappé reiterated that he only considered leaving due to the racist comments he received after the penalty miss.
“I explained to him well that above all else it was in relation to racism, NOT the penalty,” Mbappé wrote on Twitter. “However, he thought that there hadn’t been any racism…”
The 23-year-old forward, who recently chose to sign a new contract to remain at PSG over a move to Real Madrid, previously said that he was not pleased with the the way that the French federation responded to the situation.
“I have so much love for the French national team that I abstract from it all,” Mbappé told L’Équipe last year. “What shocked me, again, was being called a monkey for the penalty. That is what I wanted support around, not because I took my penalty to the left and [Yann] Sommer stopped it.”
Mbappé and France will look to defend their World Cup title in Qatar this fall, when they will face Australia, Denmark and Tunisia in the group stage.
