Kylian Mbappe has the perfect opportunity to silence his Spanish critics in France's World Cup semi-final showdown with La Roja

At a distance, Mbappe's relationship with the Spanish media has become increasingly strained ever since he swapped Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid in a blockbuster free transfer in 2024.

A prolific return of 86 goals in just 103 appearances for the club has been completely overshadowed by Los Blancos' failure to win a major trophy since the Frenchman arrived - a fiasco that has cranked up the scrutiny for their big-name players. Mbappe is, inevitably, among those to have become a lightning rod for criticism, having so far been unable to change Madrid's fortunes. Such is the pressure as a result, he basically cannot have a quiet game or he risks taking a beating in the press.

While the focus was initially on his slow integration, the hostility has spiked around each negative result or exit from a cup competition, and things became particularly toxic at the backend of the 2025-26 campaign as Real fell well behind fierce rivals Barcelona in the title race and were dumped out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Bayern Munich. Mbappe ultimately surpassed the 40-goal mark, but his individual feats paled into insignificance amid the side's overall underperformance.

His case wasn't helped by the fact that, after a phenomenal first half of the campaign, he was far less effective in the second - netting just four times between mid-February and the end of the season amid niggling injuries.

Things reached boiling point during the run-in, as Real's season unravelled against the backdrop of some serious off-field drama that Mbappe found himself at the centre of.

According to The Athletic, the 27-year-old was involved in an ugly confrontation with a member of the club's backroom staff before the meeting with Real Betis in late April, where he aimed a volley of abuse at a coach who called him offside in a training match - a reflection of the overall toxic atmosphere that engulfed the club at the time.

Mbappe then suffered a hamstring injury in the clash with Betis, but rather than recover at Madrid's Valdebebas training base, he used some time off to go on holiday to Sardinia with his girlfriend, high-profile Spanish actor Ester Exposito, and was pictured on a yacht around the same time his club were facing Espanyol in La Liga.

It was a decision that drew criticism internally and from the outside. While Arbeloa defended his player, an 'Mbappe out' online petition subsequently went viral, garnering some 12 million signatures in less than 24 hours and eventually passing 70 million. The striker then missed the Clasico where Real handed Barca the title as he was still deemed unfit, excusing himself from training with the would-be substitutes due to 'discomfort', before returning to the bench against Real Oviedo in mid-May.

However, that was something Mbappe himself took issue with; unusually stopping to speak to the media after coming on as a substitute, the forward pointedly said he was "100 percent" and claimed he hadn't started the game because Arbeloa had told him he had been demoted to "fourth-choice striker". It was later reported that the Frenchman's frustration stemmed from Alonso's sacking.

Arbeloa was forced to refute those claims shortly afterwards, saying in his press conference after being bombarded with questions about Mbappe's comments: "He must have misunderstood me, at no point did I say he was the fourth-choice striker. A player who four days ago wasn't even fit enough to make the bench for a match shouldn't have started today."

The Athletic reported at the time that there was "growing disappointment" with Mbappe, "from the dressing room to the board". In response to the widespread criticism, his camp said in a statement: "A portion of the criticism is based on an over-interpretation of elements related to a recovery period strictly supervised by the club, and does not reflect the reality of Kylian's commitment and daily work for the team."

After such a tumultuous club campaign, the World Cup has undoubtedly been a welcome distraction for Mbappe and he has certainly gone back to focusing on doing what he does best: scoring goals and winning matches.

The attacker has been prolific in North America, away from the deafening noise of Madrid, scoring eight times so far as he propels France towards potential glory. He has bagged trio of braces against Senegal, Iraq and Sweden, followed by a winner from the penalty spot against Paraguay and a stunning opener against Morocco last time out in the quarter-finals. Against Norway in the group phase - the only match in which he has failed to net - he still provided two assists.

Mbappe's eight-goal haul means he is level with Lionel Messi at the head of a scintillating Golden Boot race, and his tournament total of 20 overall - just one behind Messi's 21 - means he is well placed to become the World Cup's standalone record goal-scorer, either in 2026 or in future editions.

There is certainly a sense that Mbappe is more comfortable in the dark blue shirt of France than he is in the brilliant white of Real Madrid. Despite the attacking riches and world-class talent at Didier Deschamps' disposal across the pitch, he is Les Bleus' undisputed talisman and leader as captain.

Indeed, his team-mates have leapt to his defence after his difficult end to the club a season. "The criticism towards him is very, very unfair," Ousmane Dembele said ​on the eve of the World Cup. "Some people go a bit too far with the criticism of Kylian. He's an incredible player and a very good person off the pitch.

"Some people overdo the criticism because he's Kylian Mbappe. They shouldn't keep going after him. Whether ​he ties his shoelaces or not, whether he pulls up his socks or not... it's too much. He's still a human ​being. With the France team, he's very good with us, he's a leader."

Defender Lucas Hernandez echoed that sentiment, saying: "Kylian is an extraordinary player. When you're Kylian Mbappe, everyone looks at everything you do, on the pitch and ​off the pitch. All ⁠the criticism there has been this season, he's going to silence it."

However, some argue that the perception of Mbappe in Spain is more nuanced that many might think, with question marks over his leadership, ego and off-pitch behaviour balanced against his extraordinary attacking contributions and decisiveness. As a global superstar, he certainly attracts more scrutiny than most, and Spain's patchy record when it comes to the treatment of black players must also be a consideration.

"In Spain, we are famous for making stories out of the little that we see of players," prominent Spanish journalist Guillem Balague told the BBC in May. "The jury remains out with Mbappe. He seems a little bit too cold and too distant with the Madrid fans - I remember Raul telling me that one thing they appreciate is players running for the impossible ball. People love it.

"Of course, if Real were winning, it would be a different story. The question is, are they not winning because the managers haven't been able to get the best out of Mbappe, or because he is not adapting quick enough? He went through a period when he first arrived of complete humbleness, realising he was at Real Madrid, and he was doing what he was told under Carlo Ancelotti.

"Then after missing two penalties, against Liverpool and Athletic Club, he was feeling really down and thought 'I am going to do it my own way'. The goals started coming, and he was great numbers-wise for Ancelotti. But this season it simply hasn't worked, under Alonso or Arbeloa."

With a World Cup semi-final looming against the country he calls home, Mbappe is exactly where he wants to be: in scintillating form and among the tournament's top goal-scorers - but he is still prepared for any fresh criticism that might come his way.

"There is only one scenario where you can relax and that is winning the World Cup," he said ahead of the showdown with Spain. "When you play for France, if you don't win, you get heavily criticised. We have a tightly-knit squad driving toward a single objective: victory.

"We are in the semi-finals, but the road is still long, and the most challenging matches lie ahead of us."

As Hernandez intimated before the tournament got underway, Mbappe is intent on silencing his critics at this World Cup, and his performances so far will have gone some way to doing that.

If he can knock the European champions out of the tournament in the semi-finals and carry this unstoppable form into the club season, then his detractors in Spain will owe him an apology.