France goes into the 2026 World Cup as one of the favourites — defending finalists, 2018 world champions, qualified with a near-perfect record. They're also a country in which the National Rally is now the largest single party in the National Assembly, and which is being represented this summer by a team that is, in its overwhelming majority, of African and North African heritage.
This week I sit down for an hour with Julien Laurens — football journalist for TNT, BBC, ESPN, 5 Live, RMC, and Talksport, and author of Kylian Mbappé: The Definitive Biography, out 28 May via Bonnier Books, twelve days before France play their opening game against Senegal in New Jersey.
We talk about Kylian Mbappé's transformation since 2018, the moment he was given the captaincy and what his parents told him, the surprise Camavinga omission, the end of the Deschamps era, why 1998 cast a longer shadow than 2018, the 2010 Knysna strike and the new Netflix documentary The Bus, why Julien believes the French far right doesn't actually want France to win, Zinedine Zidane preparing to take over as manager, and why this summer's tournament carries weight that goes well beyond a trophy.
📖 Kylian Mbappé: The Definitive Biography by Julien Laurens — out 28 May via Bonnier Books. Pre-order: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kylian-Mbappe-Definitive-Biography-World/dp/1399629565
Chapters00:00 Welcome01:30 The book — why now, and why you?04:00 What surprised Julien in the research06:00 Mbappé in 2026 vs Mbappé in 201809:30 The Pelé note after the 2018 final13:00 The squad announcement — Camavinga, Kolo Muani17:00 The Deschamps era — 14 years and counting20:00 Knysna, 2010, and the Netflix doc The Bus24:00 1998 vs 2018 — same victory, different countries28:00 The dynasty question31:30 The captaincy — what Mbappé's parents told him38:00 Mbappé and Le Pen40:30 What failure would cost45:30 The personal stakes49:00 Zidane the successor55:00 The prediction58:00 The European bonus
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