Real Madrid won the Intercontinental Cup, where Kylian Mbappé played and scored at the very stadium he returned to two years after losing the Qatar 2022 World Cup Final.

Kylian Mbappé returned to the iconic stadium where Lionel Messi and Argentina were crowned world champions, a place where the Frenchman shone but couldn’t help his team secure the back-to-back World Cup titles they sought in 2022.

While the magnitude of the event wasn’t comparable, the Intercontinental Cup offered Mbappé a chance to “partially” redeem himself at the stadium where he scored a memorable hat-trick during the winter tournament. Now, two years later, donning Real Madrid’s colors, he returned to Lusail Stadium—though surely with lingering memories of how his three goals couldn’t change the outcome.

What was Mbappé's injury?

Real Madrid’s star signing entered the match just in time after recovering from a left thigh muscle injury reported a week earlier. Despite speculation over his availability, he didn’t start but came on as a substitute, thrilling fans eager to see him play in Doha, Qatar.

After the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Mbappé finished as the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals, one more than Lionel Messi, and became one of only two players to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

Mbappé’s second title with Real Madrid

The Intercontinental Cup marked Mbappé’s second trophy with Real Madrid, following their UEFA Super Cup victory against Atalanta in Warsaw on August 14, 2024.