Kylian Mbappe’s popularity soared after his heroics at the 2023 Qatar World Cup – to the point where he’s now renowned in the remote villages of India. Well, at least that is what the Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi seems to be claiming.
The most powerful man of India recently visited France to strengthen the relations between the two nations. He also marked the visit to address the Indian community in Paris, who turned up in big numbers to watch him speak.
What did Narendra Modi say about Kylian Mbappe?
During his address to the community, Modi brought up the name of Mbappe – who is a popular figure in the city and France as a whole. He gave a short, yet rather stunning claim about the PSG star and said: “French football player Kylian Mbappe is superhit among the youth in India. Mbappe is probably known to more people in India than in France,”
He also seemed to state that more people in the rural villages of India know about Mbappe’s presence than the French people. PM Modi is not exactly known for being a massive football fan and his claim can actually be open to a lot of debate.
Firstly, even though it might not the premier sport of the country – football is gaining popularity in India. It is more accessible than ever, with Ligue 1 being broadcast regularly after the arrival of Lionel Messi to PSG in 2021. Moreover, fans got to see a lot of Mbappe’s heroics during the World Cup – where he played a huge role to lead France to the final.
The French forward ended the World Cup with a memorable hattrick in the final against Argentina and also winning the Golden Boot award for eight goals scored. The Qatar World Cup was actually free to watch for everyone in India through the JioCinema application – while also being broadcast on Sports 18 on Cable TV.
Football Twitter hilarious mocks Mbappe claim
As a result, the World Cup recorded impressive viewership numbers – with the final seeing 32 millions watch it in the JioCinema platform. There is a massive difference in population among India and France – with the former having 1.5 billion people as compared to France’s 65 million. Going by just the World Cup final viewership numbers, it’s safe to assume that at least as many people got to know about Mbappe as they do in France.
Football Twitter is having a field day after these comments, with fans using a lot of examples to mock this claim. Some are sarcastically trying to convey that Mbappe is actually from the state of Maharashtra in India. Others claim that Lionel Messi is much more popular in India than Mbappe is – which is probably true too.
There is also a belief within some that this is actually a great promotion for the French winger and elevates his reputation as one of the most prominent sportspersons in the world. Mbappe’s popularity might be soaring, but there remain questions on his future and where he’ll be playing for in the upcoming season.
Real Madrid are looking to sign him after Mbappe admitted that he wouldn’t be signing a new contract extension with PSG on his contract that expires next summer. It remains to be seen if the Ligue 1 club finally sell him to Madrid, but irrespective of wherever he plays next season – Mbappe will have a lot of eyes from India following him throughout the campaign.
