Fans have been left convinced that England defender Kyle Walker snubbed France’s Kylian Mbappe’s handshake before their World Cup quarterfinal.
But while the defender kept the French ace mostly quiet throughout the match, Mbappe got the last laugh as his nation set up a World Cup semi-final against Morocco.
The teams were lined up before the match at Al Bayt Stadium when the tournament’s leading goalscorer reached out to wish the Englishman luck.
The video shows Walker’s head turn slightly toward the Frenchman just before Mbappe withdrew his hand and smiled over the moment before stretching.
Mbappe awkwardly laughed off his embarrassment.
Fans were quick to claim the incident came after Walker promised to stop the flying Frenchman.
“I understand what I need to do and that is to stop him,” Walker said before the match. “It’s easier said than done but I don’t underestimate myself.
”You have to give him respect but not too much. Yes, it will be a tough game but a team cannot just be about one person.
”I’m not going to roll out a red carpet for him and tell him to score. It’s a World Cup, it’s do or die.”
And while Walker held up his end of the bargain in keeping Mbappe quiet, the defending champions turned to the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud to knock England out of the tournament.
One fan said on TikTok: “Mbappe got the last laugh.”
Another said: “Mbappe did that on purpose, he saw the Kyle Walker interview.”
And Mbappe did get the last laugh as world champions France ran out 2-1 winners.
England captain Harry Kane missed a golden chance to equalise from the penalty spot in the 84th minute, blasting his effort over the bar, leaving Mbappe in fits of laughter.
Against Walker, though, Mbappe didn’t have the easiest of nights and was largely neutralised.
French outlet L’Equipe also rated England’s Bukayo Saka as better than Mbappe on the night.
France will now face Morocco in the semis next Wednesday after the African underdogs toppled Portugal.
A win could set up a rematch with 2018 finalists Croatia, who play Argentina on the opposite side of the knockout tree.
Mbappe has one, possibly two, more games to extend his lead in the Golden Boot race.
The 23-year-old has five goals, and is leading teammate Olivier Giroud and Paris Saint-Germain pal Lionel Messi, who both have four.
He could also end the tournament with the most assists, trailing charts topper Bruno Fernandes by one, having registered two in Qatar so far.
This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.
