France captain Kylian Mbappe said top athletes are still reluctant to speak
freely about mental health because they fear being judged, adding that his passion for the game is what keeps him from becoming disillusioned with football.

In a wide-ranging interview with L’Equipe newspaper on Wednesday, the 26-year-old forward spoke candidly about the pressure he faces and the perception that elite players cannot show vulnerability.

“The complexity is that people struggle with it. You’re not supposed to show it,” Mbappe said, when asked about cyclists such as four-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar acknowledging moments of distress during competition.

“If he had said it at the start, he would have been torn apart. But when you win, you are almost untouchable. If you lose a match and say you’re tired, people say it’s because you played badly. Even if you felt that way before.”

The Real Madrid striker, who netted twice in two World Cup qualifying wins against Ukraine and Iceland, said he held himself to the most demanding standards.

“I’ve never wanted to accept failure, so I don’t mind if people reproach me for it. I’m very hard on myself, more than most people are, so I’m at peace with that,” he said.

Mbappe also highlighted the fine line between
public expectation and private emotions.

“At home, I can say it. Or when the context is right. If I win the World Cup, you come three days later and ask me, I can say it. But after a defeat? People won’t accept it.

“Honestly, if I didn’t have this passion, football
would have disgusted me a long time ago.”

Mbappe insisted the toughest battles are often internal. “You don’t have the right to lose, to be wrong. But that’s also why people hold you in high esteem — because you accept it all, because you stay resilient and always want to win,” he said.

Last year, tennis star Naomi Osaka also opened up about some of the personal struggles she endured around mental health.

Since publicly revealing her battle with anxiety and depression in 2021, the Japanese four-time major winner has become one of the biggest advocates for mental health.

“Growing up I never really liked myself. While that statement is bold, I also wouldn’t say I disliked myself either. It was (a) strange contradiction of thought, I was existing but I didn’t have a strong emotion or opinion tied to my being whether positive or negative.

“That being said, for some reason when I was young I knew that I potentially would’ve preferred to be someone else. Perhaps a pop star, or someone really famous and rich at the time,” Osaka, mother to two-year-old daughter Shai, wrote in her book, Self Love.

Written with AP/PTI inputs