France manager strongly denies Kylian Mbappe “dictator” claims – “His public image does not reflect reality”

France manager strongly denies Kylian Mbappe “dictator” claims – “His public image does not reflect reality” Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe is having a fantastic 2026 World Cup, and his form continued on Saturday as he scored the only goal of the game as France edged past Paraguay to reach the quarter-finals. He’s also the top scorer with seven goals (joint with Lionel Messi but with more assists), and if he manages to hold that position, he would become the first player in history to win the Golden Boot on two consecutive occasions. But away from his on-field efforts, there has been significant speculation on how things have played out behind the scenes. His antics have reportedly angered several members of the France dressing room , which follows similar reports from Real Madrid – although these have now been publicly denied by Les Bleus’ head coach Didier Deschamps. As per Fabrizio Romano , Deschamps clairified the situation with Mbappe when he spoke to the media after France’s victory over Paraguay. He made it clear that the public image of the Real Madrid man does not reflect reality. “You guys make Kylian Mbappe seem like a dictator, but the reality is the opposite. His public image does not reflect reality at all. Kylian has always been mature and the whole team follows him. I am so happy to have Kylian as captain. Whenever he speaks on and off the pitch, he represents the whole group.” Is the Ballon d’Or incoming for Mbappe? Real Madrid may have had a very poor 2025-26 season, but Mbappe starred with 42 goals in 44 appearances. And if he manages to top the World Cup scoring charts alongside winning the tournament for a second time in his career, he would surely be the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or for the first him in his career, although that possibility will be far from his mind at this stage.