The most feared footballer on the planet stands between England and the World Cup semi-finals.
French forward Kylian Mbappe, 23, is the sport’s newest superstar as Lionel Messi, 35, and Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, head towards the end of their careers. The working class lad brought up in the rough suburbs of north-eastern Paris will face England on Saturday as the most heralded player of his generation.
Leading the race for the tournament’s top scorer with five goals in four games, he has never forgotten his roots. When he was young, Kylian put pictures of Ronaldo all over his bedroom walls, saying: “He was my football hero.” But when he became famous, Kylian cheekily replaced them with posters of himself.
