Even without the mask, Kylian Mbappé was outclassed by a 16-year-old wonderkid.
Mbappé ditched the vision-restricting mask that he had been wearing since breaking his nose in France’s opening match but Les Bleus fell to a 2-1 loss to Spain in the semifinals on Tuesday as Lamine Yamal became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship.
Yamal is heading to the Euro 2024 final on Sunday — the day after his 17th birthday — while Mbappé will be on holiday before joining new team Real Madrid.
“I had the aim of being European champion, I had the aim of having a good Euros — I didn’t do one nor the other,” Mbappé said.
“It’s disappointing, we have to go on holiday. I’ll rest well, I think I need that to come back fresh and have a really good pre-season preparation.”
France coach Didier Deschamps had said on Monday that Mbappé would have to wear the mask for “weeks … maybe months” so there was surprise when he took to the field in Munich without the mask that had so annoyed him.