International Football
Kylian Mbappe steps out of Lionel Messi’s shadow
Cameroon born French player, Kylian Mbappe may not have emulated his hero, Pele as back-to-back winner of the World Cup, he was a hero in the 2022 World Cup final with Argentina.
That was a match that will not easily fade from memory. Had France won, it would have been the first time in 60 years that a defending champion achived success.
Brazil in 1962 were the last successful defending champions.
All the same, Mbappe’s s great show in Sunday’s final match leaves many to desire as the young France striker continues his blossom career after the duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo finally fades out.
Having been on the losing side in PSG’s final match of the UEFA Champions’ League to Bayern Munich three season ago, Sunday night at the Lusail stadium in Doha was another opportunity after a wonderful into the final match.
Lionel Messi and Neymar lighting up Ligue 1, the forward hasn’t been the club’s main superstar in the way he wanted to be and hasn’t been pleased with the role he’s been forced to play to facilitate the South American duo.
Things have been different with France though. Didier Deschamps has given him the status he wants on and off the pitch, and that had brought the best out of him in Qatar – prior to the final, he’d looked happier and better than ever.
Going up against Messi in football’s biggest game, Mbappe had the chance to firmly step out of his teammate’s shadow and cement his status as the world’s best, and while he may have ended up on the losing side, boy did he take it.
As has been the case at their club, Messi hogged the spotlight that Mbappe so craves heading into the final, with the fact that it was the Argentine’s last chance to win a World Cup overshadowing the fact that the Frenchman could win his second at the age of 23.
That remained the case when the ball get rolling with him having just five touches before the 35-year-old gave his team the lead from the penalty spot.
He then got on the ball just four more times before former teammate Angel Di Maria made it 2-0, giving the South American team a comfortable lead that they fully deserved.
Along with being in the shadow of Messi and Neymar, another thing that has upset Mbappe at PSG has been the fact that he’s been used as a lone striker rather than being given a role allowing him more creative freedom.
Given that, things went from bad to worse for him when Didier Deschamps made him Les Blues’ centre forward before the first half was over, taking off Olivier Giroud. The match that every player dreams of playing in was fast becoming a nightmare.
It looked more and more like that would be the story of his second World Cup final as the second half went on. And then he decided to write a new one.
He gave his country a glimmer of hope when he made it 2-1 from the spot with 10 minutes remaining and turned that glimmer into so much more with a moment of magic a minute later.
What says just as much about how obscenely good he is as his stunning finish is the fact that you could see it coming as soon as the ball fell to him on the edge of the box. There are precious few players that wouldn’t surprise you by scoring such a goal, and he’s already one of them.
Unfortunately for him, another plays for Argentina, and Messi looked to have broken French hearts when he got his second of the game, scoring what looked set to be arguably the most significant goal of all time.
Once again though, Mbappe had other ideas, staying remarkably cool when handed another penalty.
He then made it three from three when he stepped up to take the first in the shootout that followed. His job was done, and he now had to rely on his team-mates.
They couldn’t come through, with the two that followed him failing to score, but that didn’t take anything away from his own heroics.
On the biggest of stages, he went toe to toe with the greatest player of all time and was every bit as good, at the ripe old age of 23.
Messi is magnificent, but so too is Mbappe, and he’s only getting started.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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