The 2025/26 season was not a kind one for Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. While the Frenchman started the campaign brightly and still ended up going a perfect two for two in Pichichi Trophy conquests, Real won nothing of note and Mbappe became increasingly under fire as his performances pittered in the final months of the season.
Mbappe made more headlines for not getting along with teammates on the pitch and for high profile missed chances. There was a narrative building against Mbappe that PSG and Luis Enrique were right for casting him aside, and after the Ligue 1 giants hoisted their second straight Champions League title while Mbappe and Real Madrid remained trophyless, that narrative reached its crescendo.
So what Mbappe did for France against Norway was absolutely vital. Whereas Mbappe scored braces and tore both Iraq and Senegal to bits as a goal scorer, Mbappe, though he smacked the crossbar in the opening minutes, played more of a creative role.
Kylian Mbappe found Ousmane Dembele whenever he could
Kyilan Mbappe was cooking in his all around game for 86 minutes before leaving the pitch against an Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard less Norway. The Real Madrid No. 9 did not score a goal despite registering the most shots on the team, tied wtih Desire Doue, but he did also lead the team with four key passes and two assists.
The 27 year old superstar looked to pass it to the other big player on France, Ousmane Dembele, as often as he could. And Dembele finished with a hat trick to remind everyone why he was one of the world's finest goal scorers and the Ballon d'Or winner for PSG as Mbappe's effective replacement in the 2024/25 season.
Instead of showing any signs of jealousy or only wanting the ball and the shots for himself, which seemed to be a huge problem for him at Real Madrid last season, Mbappe regularly passed up on shooting opportunities to find Dembele, who cut in from that right side and delivered devastating curling efforts that left the Norwegian shot stopper for dead.
Real Madrid will have wached what Kylian Mbappe did to Norway as a creator in the final 2026 World Cup group stage game, and they will be in his ear about doing that more and more. The other players at Real Madrid, like Vinicius Junior and Jude Belingham, would benefit immensely, and Jose Mourinho will surely encourage Mbappe to keep flipping the narrative that he is a selfish player who will not pass for others.
Add us as a preferred source on Google