Raphinha joined the list of players who got involved in the debate sparked by Kylian Mbappé’s comparison between the Euros and the World Cup. Speaking at a press conference, the Brazilian made it clear he disagrees with the Frenchman, who stated that the European competition is tougher than the World Cup.
“Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, he lost a World Cup to a South American team,” said Raphinha. “I would like to see European teams playing the qualifiers in South America with the fields we face, the altitudes, then we’ll see if it was easy or difficult.”
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Mbappé had already stirred controversy in 2022 when he claimed that South American football was not as developed as in Europe. Despite Argentina winning the title in Qatar, his opinion does not seem to have changed two years later.
“I’ve always felt the same way. It’s a really tough competition. For me, the Euro is harder than the World Cup, even though there is a lot more pressure in a World Cup,” Kylian said on June 4. “Here, all the teams know each other, we play against each other all the time. Tactically, it’s a very similar type of football.”
These remarks were met with backlash from Lionel Messi, Emiliano Martínez, Luka Modric, and now Raphinha. Even though there is still a long way to go, the buildup to the 2026 World Cup has already begun to heat up, with the South Americans aiming to prove Mbappé wrong.
