Lizarazu slams Mbappé after Ballon d'Or: "He went into something hyper-individualistic"

Bixente Lizarazu severely criticized Kylian Mbappé’s conduct during the 2026 Ballon d’Or campaign, a week after the Real Madrid striker finished second behind Harry Kane, 28 points adrift.

The former French international spoke on Sunday on the Téléfoot show. He first recalled having long supported the France captain. “I defended him a lot last season when he was still heavily criticized from every angle. He gave us a great World Cup. I thought he was consistent as captain of the France team with a collective message,” he said, before adding: “And during the Ballon d’Or sequence, he went off the rails.”

It was precisely Mbappé’s communication in the weeks leading up to the voting deadline that upset Lizarazu. The Madrid player’s numerous public statements to highlight his record and defend his candidacy left a negative impression on the pundit. “I didn’t like it at all, he went into something hyper-individualistic, a lack of humility, self-promotion, somewhat forgetting others. You get the impression there was only him and the others didn’t exist,” he continued.

Beyond the media sequence, Lizarazu broadened his criticism to the striker’s collective performances. He urged Mbappé to place the collective at the heart of his priorities, pointing to insufficient results with his clubs. “These collective values will make the France team win. He’s coming out of sequences where he’s not making his clubs win. He’s not making his teams win, so he needs to think about that. He may score a lot of goals, but you have to make your team win. That’s what matters most,” he insisted.

A warning all the more striking coming from a former defender who had until now publicly defended the France captain.