PSG’s Kylian Mbappe saw it fit to end his media silence after firing France into the quarter-finals with a superb brace against Poland and maintains his only objective in Qatar is to help Les Bleus win a second consecutive World Cup.
Mbappe’s brace of curled finishes sent the holders through, while setting the Paris St Germain striker on course to win the Golden Boot with his tally for the tournament now at five.
Olivier Giroud opened up the scoring at Al Thumama Stadium with an assist from Mbappe, with the latter insisting after his side’s 3-1 victory that he is not pursuing personal accolades during the next two weeks.
“The only objective for me is to win the World Cup,” Mbappe said in English.
“Now to win the next game, the quarter-final, is the most important thing and that is what I dream. The only thing I dream of is this.
“I came here to win this World Cup. I didn’t come here to win the Golden Ball or Golden Boot. If I win it, of course I’m going to be happy but that’s not why I am here. I am here to win and to help the French national team.”
The tournament had begun on an odd note for the Frenchman as he had refused to take part in any post-match interviews after scoring in group-stage victories over Australia and Denmark, for which he and the French Football Federation would be fined by FIFA due to their star man neither speaking in nor attending post-match interviews.
However he has revealed he will be responsible for the fines and offered an explanation for his radio silence.
Mbappe added: “I know people have been asking why I haven’t been appearing in front of the media.
“It wasn’t anything personal, I can assure you of that. I have nothing against journalists but I just needed to focus on the tournament and on my football.
“When I want to concentrate on something, that is the way I function and that is why I did not want to come and speak to you before now.
“I learned that the French Football Federation would get fined and I said I would pay the fine myself because I didn’t think the Federation should pay on my behalf.
“So far things have been going well but we are a long way from the ultimate objective, which is to win the World Cup. Now we have to focus on the quarter-final and that is the most important thing now.”
Mbappe’s impact has been praised by national team boss Didier Deschamps who also paid tribute to Giroud, who became France’s record scorer with his 44th-minute strike – moving ahead of Thierry Henry onto 52 goals for his country.
“Kylian can change a match in just a moment and he is always playing with such joy and we all want to share those smiles with him. France needed a great Kylian Mbappe tonight and they got one,” Deschamps admitted.
“Olivier is often criticized but he has managed to remain strong, mentally strong and yes he has broken the record.
“It is a very difficult record to break. It was Thierry Henry who held that record before and then there is another guy just beside me (Mbappe) here who might break it one day but to score so many goals at international level is an achievement.