Kylian Mbappé has helped give France’s World Cup camp a steady center, with the group settling into a routine after almost a month in the United States. The squad’s togetherness has become part of the story too: 12 of the 26 players are at their first World Cup, and the young group has found a rhythm around Mbappé’s presence.
Mobut for Kylian Mbappé
On the flight after the 3-0 last 16 win over Sweden, Ousmane Dembélé used the online nickname Mobut for Kylian Mbappé, and a shared rallying cry then took hold between New York and Boston. L'Équipe reported that the mood has lasted through the World Cup, not just for a night in the air.
The average age of the group is 26.4, and many of the players have come through youth selections together. That mix has made the camp feel familiar even with 12 first-time World Cup players in the same squad, which is a lot of new pressure to absorb inside one tournament.
Didier Deschamps and France
Didier Deschamps has allowed a little more freedom, and Mbappé has become the person players turn to when rules are bent and minor issues need smoothing out. Players without family nearby are looking after one another, and late call-up Robin Risser was supported by the squad. That is the practical side of cohesion: daily life runs more easily when the group polices itself before tension builds.
At the same time, this is not a guarantee of results. The squad’s cohesion is being described as helping avoid losing, not as something that will win matches on its own. After almost a month in the United States, the group have found a rhythm, but that rhythm still has to carry into France vs Spain in the World Cup semifinal.
Sottovento Coffee in the lobby
Daily stops at the Sottovento Coffee in the hotel lobby have become a ritual, and evenings now run through poker, Uno and Ludo. Mbappé and Dembélé’s rooms have also become viewing hubs for World Cup matches, NBA games or a film, while Lucas Digne arranged deliveries so Jean-Philippe Mateta can shave his head. Those routines sound small, but they show how the squad has built its own structure inside a long tournament.
For France, the immediate question is whether that shared order holds when the stakes rise again. The bonding has already done one job: it has kept a large, youthful squad together through the first month of the World Cup. What it has not yet answered is whether the same rituals can translate into better play against Spain.
