Kylian Mbappe’s ‘flute’ celebration during France’s victory over Senegal was inspired by British presenter and actor James Corden.
The Real Madrid superstar, 27, surpassed Olivier Giroud to become Les Bleus’ all-time leading goalscorer with a brace in their 3-1 at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Tuesday.
The France captain netted his second with a stunning long-range strike into the top corner. He wheeled away with his arms spread before performing his signature ‘arms crossed’ celebration, but it was how Mbappe celebrated his first goal that really caught the eye.
He was seen playing an imaginary flute in what was actually a promise made to Corden.
Mbappe took a car ride ahead of the World Cup with Corden on his After Hours show and revealed that as a child his parents encouraged him to play the instrument. Corden then pulled out a flute from the backseat, prompting Mbappe to display his musical skills.
“This is okay, this is okay,” Corden joked. “Maybe this could be a new celebration. If you score your first goal, you run and then here (arms crossed), straight to here (playing the flute).” Mbappe replied: “Yeah, I will do it for you. First game.”
And so, Mbappe kept his promise on Tuesday night.
He had been at the centre of much debate heading into the tournament, and even admitted last week that he had “too many people who hate him”. But the captain answered his critics and, speaking after the match, appeared strikingly confident.
“There’s no such thing as revenge. If I started playing to silence all the people who criticise me, I’d have to play until I was 80,” he said.
“I play to make history for my country and to help my team reach the final and win the World Cup.”
Mbappe was the lone bright spot in France’s otherwise dreadful first-half show on Tuesday.
They did not have a single shot on target and just one touch in the box from a forward — the single shot at goal being regarded as their worst performance in a World Cup group game since 1966.
Given that this was a forwardline comprising Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Désiré Doué, the performance was all very surprising.