Kylian Mbappé's Mission: Win the World Cup for Deschamps
Kylian Mbappé doesn’t just want to win this World Cup for France. He wants to win it for Didier Deschamps – and then slam shut the door on any prospect of seeing his long‑time coach in another nation’s colours.
Deschamps is heading into his final tournament in charge of Les Bleus, yet has been deliberately vague about what comes next. He has refused to close off any avenue, whether that means a return to the week‑to‑week grind of club football or another crack at the international stage with a different country.
Mbappé is not a neutral observer in that discussion. Far from it.
Mbappé’s mission: win it, then keep him
Inside the France camp, the captain has made no secret of his stance. He wants this World Cup to be Deschamps’ last dance on the touchline – not just with France, but anywhere.
“The best way to pay tribute to him is to win because he loves to win,” Mbappé told M6. “We're going to make sure he has the best of the recent World Cups. Hopefully, it will be his last because I hope he doesn't play for another team.”
That final line was not a throwaway remark. It was a statement of intent. Mbappé then admitted he is actively trying to shape Deschamps’ next move.
“I'm putting pressure on him,” he said, laying bare the dynamic between a generational star and the coach who has guided him through two World Cup cycles.
Italy whispers, French resistance
For months, Deschamps’ name has floated around one job in particular: Italy. The links are obvious. He knows the country, knows the culture, and knows the demands from his time at Juventus, both as a player and a manager. For a proud football nation wrestling with instability and the scars of missing multiple World Cups, a World Cup‑winning coach with his résumé looks like an elegant solution.
On paper, it fits. On the French side of the Alps, it sounds like a nightmare.
When Mbappé was asked directly about the prospect of Deschamps taking the Azzurri hotseat, he didn’t dress it up. “They said Italy, that would be awful,” he replied.
No diplomacy. No careful phrasing. Just a blunt rejection of the idea that his mentor could one day stand in the opposite dugout, plotting France’s downfall.
One last campaign together
For now, the noise around Deschamps’ future stays on the outside. Inside the camp, the focus is clear: one more World Cup, one more tilt at the trophy, one more chance to define an era.
France came agonisingly close in 2022, losing the final after one of the great World Cup epics. The target this time is simple and brutal: go back, win it again, and send Deschamps out with the kind of farewell that befits his tenure.
The 2026 World Cup will close his chapter with the national team. Only after that will he decide whether to walk away or step straight back into the spotlight somewhere else. Before any contract talks or negotiations, he must steer this squad through one last tournament and try to squeeze every final drop out of a group still stacked with talent.
The path begins on June 16 against Senegal in Group I. Iraq follow on June 22. Norway await four days later in the final group fixture. It is a schedule that leaves little room for error and even less for sentiment.
If Mbappé gets his wish, those dates will mark the start of a farewell tour that ends with a trophy in Deschamps’ hands – and no rival anthem ever played for him again.
