MBAPPE

Kylian Mbappé was born in Paris and grew up in Bondy, one of the Parisian suburbs (banlieues) with working-class, mostly immigrant residents. His mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian descent, and his father, Wilfried Mbappé, had immigrated from Cameroon. Wilfried Mbappé was a coach and director for the local club AS Bondy, and his son joined the club’s youth teams at age six. In August 2017 Mbappé moved to PSG, which also signed Neymar, a prolific Brazilian scorer. Together they led PSG to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles (2017–18, 2018–19, and 2019–20). Mbappé was named the league’s Player of the Year for the 2018–19 season, when he scored 33 goals, the most in Ligue 1. He led the league in goals in each of the next three seasons, and he again earned league Player of the Year honors in 2020–21, and 2021–22. In 2021 PSG signed Lionel Messi, another of the world’s best football players, and the team, now featuring one of the most talented front lines in the history of the sport, won the Ligue 1 title in 2021–22. Mbappé subsequently agreed to a new contract that could, via an extension clause, keep him at PSG through 2025. The contract also, reportedly, made him the world’s highest-paid football player. In 2022−23, for the fifth season in a row, Mbappé led Ligue 1 in goals scored, and he was again named league Player of the Year; PSG also won another Ligue 1 championship. The 2023–24 season saw PSG win Ligue 1 again and Mbappé receive Player of the Year honors again—the team’s third consecutive title and Mbappé’s fifth consecutive win. It was widely reported in February 2024 that Mbappé had informed PSG that he would not exercise his contract’s extension clause and thus intended to leave the club after the 2023–24 season. In May 2024 Mbappé said on social media he would be leaving PSG, and in June 2024 Real Madrid officially announced he would be joining that club.