‘It was a failure’ – what went wrong for Mbappe & France?

“My ambition was to be champion of Europe – but it was a failure.”

That was the blunt assessment of Kylian Mbappe, the World Cup winner who was expected to guide France all the way in Germany. The £190m man who finally completed his dream move to Real Madrid this summer and captained an expectant nation at Euro 2024.

But Mbappe – who emulated England great Sir Geoff Hurst with a hat-trick in the World Cup final two years ago – struggled to make the impact we all expected as France’s tepid tournament ended in semi-final defeat in Munich against Spain.

After the match the forward called the tournament a “failure”. So what went wrong with Mbappe? And why has he tended to struggle in the Euros?

Mbappe’s tournament was undoubtedly affected when he broke his nose in the final moments of their opening match against Austria. The injury forced him to miss the 0-0 draw with the Netherlands before he returned – wearing a mask – to score against Poland.

The mask clearly caused Mbappe some issues, and he was seen adjusting it during several games, before jettisoning it altogether for the Spain match.

Asked if the injury had held him back, the 25-year-old simply said: “It was everything.

“You shouldn’t overcomplicate it, it was either good or it was not. Voila, I was not good and we are going home. It’s simple.”

Manager Didier Deschamps had admitted earlier in the tournament that Mbappe’s mask was an issue but said after Tuesday night’s loss it “was more of an inconvenience than anything else”.

“I am not going to give the responsibility to one player more than another,” he added.

“When you get to the semi-finals and play a Spain team of that quality you have to be at your best and we were not.”

So what next for Mbappe?

Well, after winning the league title seven times in France with Monaco and Paris St-Germain, he will be aiming to add the Champions League next season after his move to Madrid, where he will form an eye-catching attacking line-up with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo.

“I’ll be going on holiday,” said Mbappe.

“I will rest which will do me good, and then I’ll come back very strong in a new town with a new boss.”