World Cup 2022: How family unity has helped Kylian Mbappe to stardom

The world really is at Kylian Mbappe's feet.

The 23-year-old will run out for France against Argentina on Sunday at Lusail Stadium with the chance of becoming the youngest player to win a second World Cup since Pele did so aged 21 in 1962.

He is joint leading scorer in the tournament - level on five goals with Sunday's rival Lionel Messi - and has already scored nine goals in World Cup matches, making him joint 15th highest scorer in the tournament history.

In fact, only one male player in French history has scored more World Cup goals - Just Fontaine, with 13 goals, all in 1958 - as the lightning quick Paris St-Germain striker threatens to break all records before him.

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But to understand Mbappe's love for football, you need to go back all the way to the beginning.

The France number 10 was born in Bondy, a little city in the north suburbs of Paris. The Mbappe family - Kylian, father Wilfried, mother Fayza and adopted brother Jires Kembo-Ekoko - lived in a council estate opposite the Bondy FC home ground. Younger brother Ethan, now 15, would arrive later.

There was only one street to cross and the pitch was Kylian's to play on for hours with his friends.

His dad was heavily involved in the local grassroots club, where he coached different teams and had a respected voice and reputation in the Parisian football microcosm.

His son was not interested in anything else but football. All he wanted was to hit a ball and be around his dad's teams. Football became a constant in the household, whether watching matches on television, playing competitively or with friends, at school, at Bondy or anywhere else.

Mbappe breathed, lived and slept football. On the walls of his bedroom, you could find posters of Cristiano Ronaldo, his idol.

It was clear from early on that the young Kylian had a gift. From the age of 10, all around Paris, people would talk about this prodigy from Bondy.

The conversation was soon going beyond the French capital. As well as pretty much every Ligue 1 club, all the big European teams were alerted by their scouts.

The Mbappes, though, had a clear plan. They were adamant Kylian would spend the next few years in France, not abroad, but they wanted to see him against the best.

So they accepted an offer from Chelsea, who took Kylian for a week of training at the age of 11, and from Real Madrid, who did the same when he was 12. Both European giants tried to convince him and his parents to move to London or to Spain, ready to offer pretty much anything.

But all the Mbappes wanted was to test their son. And everywhere he went, he was the best, even at the Clairefontaine academy - the elite set-up for young Parisian players.

After being selected among hundreds of 13-year-olds, you live at the academy for two years and, at the weekend, you play for your grassroots club, like Kylian, or for the professional club who recruit you.

Clubs queued for Mbappe but, unlike every other team-mate, he waited until the end of his two years at Clairefontaine to choose his next move.

Caen believed for a while that he was theirs before he chose Monaco. In the principality, he was told that he would have a pathway to the first team. Mbappe was 15 and all he wanted was to play football; his passion for the game was extraordinary.

At the Monaco academy, as he was starring in the youth teams, he dreamed of making his debut, playing in the Champions League, walking in the footsteps of his hero Ronaldo.

But to understand his success, it is important to understand the importance of his family. They do everything together. Soon, they lived together in Monaco.

When they felt he was not given a first-team opportunity despite being excellent at training, they protested. And Leonardo Jardim finally gave him his debut in December 2015. Mbappe, aged 16 years and 347 days, surpassed Thierry Henry's record as Monaco's youngest-ever first-team player.

It wasn't long before he beat Henry's record as the club's youngest goalscorer, finding the target against Troyes - aged 17 years and 62 days - in February 2016.

From then on, nothing could stop him. His first France cap came on 25 March 2017 against Spain, when he was aged 18 years and 95 days, His first goal followed in the next international break.

Throughout his teenage years, all the top clubs continued trying to sign him.

Real Madrid did everything they could. They arranged many trials, friendly matches, meet and greets with Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo himself. They offered everything they could but it was not enough. Their efforts have not stopped.

Mbappe chose PSG, initially joining on a season-long loan in August 2017 before completing a £130m move, and has helped them win four Ligue 1 titles in five seasons since.

The rest is history. Mbappe goes into Sunday's final as France's main man. Only turning 24 two days after the World Cup final, he has already struck 33 times for France - just 20 behind team-mate Olivier Giroud, who holds the men's goal record for his country.

But the most important thing for the 2018 World Cup winner, what drives him, is his love for the ball and for the game. Since he was a baby, he had a ball at his feet - and now his feet are doing the talking.

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