Kylian Mbappe heating up just in time for starring role at FIFA Club World Cup

In the chaos of the final minutes at MetLife Stadium during Real Madrid’s 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund, it was Kylian Mbappe’s audacious overhead kick that illuminated a frantic finish. It was a goal that grabbed headlines and sent a pulse through the tournament.

Mbappe’s strike in stoppage time wasn’t merely another highlight reel moment for the World Cup winner. It was a statement, a harbinger of what Real Madrid’s new talisman is capable of when stakes rise.

And the plot thickens, not least because his next opponent will be his former club, Paris Saint-Germain.

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Signed from PSG in the summer of 2024, Mbappe’s debut season at Real Madrid has been nothing short of record-breaking. He finished the campaign with 31 La Liga goals, earning the European Golden Shoe and the Spanish top flight’s Pichichi award, while amassing 44 goals in all competitions – the most ever by a Madrid debutant.

He surpassed club legends like Alfredo di Stefano and Cristiano Ronaldo, rewriting the history of the grandest club of them all in a single memorable season.

And yet, until the clash against Dortmund, his Club World Cup contributions had been muted – not due to lack of effort or ability, but due to a bout of gastroenteritis that saw him miss Madrid’s early matches in the United States.

In the quarter-finals on July 5, Mbappe came off the bench when the score was tied 2-0. Early goals from youth prospect Gonzalo Garcia and full-back Fran Garcia had given Madrid a commanding lead. But as stoppage time commenced, Dortmund hit back through Max Beier and threatened Madrid’s dominance.

Enter Mbappe. With the crowd roaring, he spun and connected with a scissor kick that crashed into the bottom corner – a goal that didn’t merely seal qualification; it shook the foundations of MetLife Stadium.

There was room for further drama, as Dean Huijsen was sent off and Serhou Guirassy pulled another goal back for BVB in the dying seconds, but Mbappe’s emphatic strike was decisive.

Next up is a semi-final against PSG. It is a game that, due to the Frenchman’s shared history with the opposition, carries undercurrents of unfinished business.

If Mbappe steps up as he did against Dortmund, it won’t just define Real Madrid’s trajectory in this tournament. It could also shape his legacy at the club. When pressure mounts and emotion burns, Mbappe rises.

Mbappe has a history of saving his best performances for football’s grandest stages. In both the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals, he scored under immense pressure – just the fifth man ever to record goals in multiple World Cup finals.

In 2018, he became the first teenager to score in a final since Pele, and in 2022, he came within a whisker of leading France to a dramatic comeback against Lionel Messi’s Argentina as he became just the second player ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final. Each time, the world watched and Mbappe delivered.

His record-breaking La Liga season speaks volumes about his consistency. But it’s the clutch moments that define him. A bicycle kick to close out a semi-final doesn’t just win a match; it sends a signal.

Through the earlier rounds of the Club World Cup, Mbappe’s impact was absent through no fault of his own. But as his Dortmund goal proved, he can be deferred but never deterred.

His substitute cameo against Juventus in the last 16 featured a smart pass leading to Garcia’s decisive goal. It was a taste of what was coming. And then came Dortmund. That was the first flash of a full-tilt Mbappe since returning to fitness – the reactions, the instincts, the athleticism.

For whichever opponents remain for Madrid at the Club World Cup, Mbappe’s goal was a warning shot. It signalled – loud and clear – to PSG and the rest that Madrid’s star man is very much present not to be underestimated.

This Madrid side – marshalled by new manager Xabi Alonso – can call upon more than youth, more than depth, more than tactics. They have a generational talent finding form at exactly the right moment.

Should Mbappe start against PSG – and there’s every indication he will – expect fireworks. The fiery Frenchman will make the pitch at MetLife Stadium his personal battlefield. The fact that the enemy on this occasion is a familiar foe only adds fuel to his fire.

When Mbappe landed at Real Madrid last summer, eyebrows were raised not because he lacked talent but because expectations were so astronomical. We’ve since witnessed those expectations met and then somehow exceeded.

Now, in New Jersey, after he stunned Dortmund and facing the spectre of a semi-final on the horizon, Mbappe’s got the old war paint on again – his game face.

A late scissor kick in stoppage time said all that needed to be said. For those yet to face him, beware: Mbappe’s just getting started at the 2025 Club World Cup.

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