Messi refuses to accept Kylian Mbappe’s suggestion of European superiority. Last week, Mbappe proclaimed that the Euros are more difficult than the World Cup.
“The Euros are complicated. For me, more complicated than a World Cup,” Mbappe told the media ahead of Euro 2024.
“Even if there is more pressure at the World Cup. All the teams know each other, we play against each other all the time. Tactically, it is a very similar soccer.”
However, Mbappe’s former PSG teammate Lionel Messi contested the claim. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner told ESPN Argentina on Wednesday.
“Mbappe said that the EURO’s are more difficult than the World Cup? He also said that the South American teams didn’t have the same high competition as the Europeans. Everyone values what they play,” said Messi, who faced Mbappe in the 2022 World Cup final. Argentina won on penalties despite Mbappe’s late-game hat trick heroics.
“The EURO’s is very important, but it leaves out Argentina, 3x World Champion, Brazil, 5x World Champion, Uruguay, 2x World Champion. There are many world champions left out to say that the EURO’s is the most difficult, right? In the World Cup, the best teams are there, all the world champions are there. That’s why everyone wants to be world champion.”
Messi reiterates what the Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez said to rebut Mbappe’s comment last week. “This year’s Copa América is going to be tougher than the previous one, but there is nothing more difficult than a World Cup,” said Martinez.
“You have to play at different venues, you travel every three days, it’s really hot, you train in the heat, you play the final after being away for 40 days…there’s a lot of wear and tear.”
So why is Mbappe so salty? For one, he’s already won a World Cup, which he earned as a teenager. But the Frenchman has yet to win the Euros, and perhaps they are the key motivator behind his latest contentious comments.
What do you think — are the Euros more difficult than the World Cup?
Photo: x/TheEuropeanLad
