Kylian Mbappé publishes open letter in French press thanking supporters after 2026 World Cup campaign
The France captain bought advertising space in Le Parisien, L'Equipe and other dailies to thank supporters, reflect on the semi-final defeat to Spain and third-place loss to England, and promise 'we haven't finished playing together'.
A newspaper thank-you
On Monday 27 July 2026, roughly ten days after France's World Cup campaign ended, captain Kylian Mbappé bought advertising space in a string of French daily newspapers to publish an open letter to the nation. The letter, titled "Merci", appeared in Le Parisien, L'Equipe, Ouest France, La Provence, La Dépêche du Midi, La Voix du Nord and other regional titles. Le Parisien reported that Mbappé chose print over social media deliberately, aiming to reach an older demographic less engaged with his Instagram or X accounts. Mbappé, currently on holiday, took time to reflect on the tournament, according to Le Figaro. The layout included a childhood photograph of Mbappé standing before a poster of Thierry Henry, a shot of the captain saluting fans, and a "class photo" of the entire 26-man squad with their coach.
The World Cup that was
France entered the 2026 tournament in North America as contenders, chasing a third star after coming close in Qatar in 2022, but exited without a medal. A 2-0 semi-final defeat to Spain was followed by a chaotic 6-4 loss to England in the third-place match. Mbappé nevertheless claimed the Golden Boot with 10 goals, a feat he acknowledged in the letter: "I accept it with pride, even if it would have been so much better with the cup as well." He did not hide the pain. "It hurts and it will keep hurting for a while, I'm not going to lie to you about that," he wrote, addressing supporters who had "stayed up late, sometimes until the middle of the night, to watch us play from the other side of the world."
A month of emotion, of pushing limits, of pride in wearing the colours of France, of passion above all, the same passion that drives us on the pitch and drives you in front of the screen as in the stands. That's what we lived together, an incredible story.
You never let us down, even in the toughest moments, even when we deserved it less. This story, we wrote it with millions of hands, not just eleven on the pitch, carried by the same fervour.
Goodbye to Deschamps
The letter also served as a public farewell to Didier Deschamps, whose long tenure as head coach was due to end the next day. Zinedine Zidane is the favourite to replace him. Mbappé kept his message to Deschamps brief but warm: "I've already said what I had to say, he knows it. Thank you to him, all his staff too, physios, cooks, fitness coaches, drivers, all those nobody ever sees and without whom none of this would be possible." He extended thanks to every teammate and the unseen support crew.
"We haven't finished playing together"
Mbappé closed the letter by looking beyond the disappointment. "Football, deep down, remains a game," he wrote. "This World Cup is coming to an end, but the story continues. There will be other matches, other summer or winter evenings when we'll all meet again in front of this same game, with the same intact desire. We haven't finished playing together." The 27-year-old, already France's all-time record scorer with 66 international goals, made clear that his international career is far from over.
