Bixente Lizarazu, a former France international, has slammed Real Madrid player Kylian Mbappe for his behaviour leading up to the 2026 Ballon d’Or presentation, saying that Mbappe lacked humility.
Harry Kane, a striker for Bayern Munich, won the prestigious honour, with Mbappe coming in second.
The 1998 World Cup champion was critical of Mbappe’s demeanour leading up to the event, saying that he was too self-absorbed. He made his comments on Sunday’s TF1 show Téléfoot.
Lizarazu said that the 27-year-old was too focused on himself and didn’t give credit where credit was due..
“During the Ballon d’Or sequence, he lost control,” he remarked. I was completely unimpressed. A lack of humility, excessive self-promotion, and a tendency to forget about others characterised his hyper-individualistic behaviour. It seemed like the world revolved around him and the rest of us were mere details.
Before the Ballon d’Or voting deadline in London on October 26, Lizarazu criticised Mbappe in a number of interviews.
The Real Madrid striker stated in an interview with France Football that he would cast his ballot for himself since he thought he had a good shot of taking home the trophy.
When asked who he thought was the greatest footballer in the world, Mbappe likewise said “me, always.”
Nevertheless, Kane ended up winning with 1,055 points, which was 28 points more than Mbappe. Youngster Lamine Yamal of Barcelona finished third with 881 points.
Lizarazu denied, despite his criticism, that Mbappe’s open campaign for the honour impacted the result of the vote.
It is quite improbable that Mbappe’s remarks dictated the outcome, as the Ballon d’Or winner is chosen by 100 journalists representing 100 different countries, as the former defender stated.
In contrast, Lizarazu voiced his displeasure with the correlation between Mbappe’s stellar goal-scoring record and his clubs’ failure to win major championships.
The French attacker has joined Real Madrid and gone two seasons without a trophy, no matter how good he has been on an individual level.
Regarding the next Nations League matches against Italy on November 12 and Türkiye on November 15, Mbappe is anticipated to make a triumphant return to the French national squad.