Many fans have criticized Kylian Mbappe’s ugly celebration after France’s opening goal against Belgium in the Euro 2024 round of 16 on the evening of July 1.
“What a shame. Very unprofessional, especially since he’s the captain of the French team,” a fan criticized Kylian Mbappe when the French striker had an ugly celebration with Jan Vertonghen after the Belgian midfielder scored an own goal in the 85th minute of the match.
This was also the only goal that helped France defeat Belgium in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 on the evening of July 1, thereby winning a ticket to the quarterfinals to meet Portugal – the team that also defeated Slovenia after a nerve-wracking penalty shootout a few hours later.
Vertongen accidentally scored an own goal after Kolo Muani’s shot hit him in the leg and went straight into the Belgian net (Photo: Getty).
Mbappe celebrated by mocking his opponent (Photo: The Sun).
Mbappe’s teasing celebration towards Vertongen came after the French striker was brought down by the Belgian centre-back in the penalty area before the own goal.
That was the situation where Mbappe dribbled into the penalty area, but the former Tottenham player tackled from behind and stole the ball back. Although Mbappe fell to the ground, the referee refused to award the French team a penalty, saying that there was no foul by Vertongen.
Vertongen even criticized Mbappe for diving and the two got into a fight after the above situation, only when the referee intervened did the two hot heads calm down.
Mbappe had a collision with Vertongen earlier (Photo: Getty).
Mbappe argued with Vertongen after the collision (Photo: Getty).
However, if Vertongen did well in blocking Mbappe, he was the culprit in Kolo Muani’s shot in the 85th minute, when the ball hit his foot and changed direction, going straight into the home team’s net, leaving goalkeeper Koen Casteels helpless.
Not missing this opportunity, Mbappe ran straight to Vertongen to mock and celebrate in an ugly way.
“His celebration was shameful. Was there a need to show off like that? Be professional,” said one angry fan about Mbappe’s celebration.
“Who doesn’t fight for the country’s flag and colors? No one is happy when they score an own goal, he will pay the price one day,” another fan said.
Mbappe’s act of mocking his opponents has been compared by fans to the controversial behaviour of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jude Bellingham earlier in the tournament.
Ronaldo, 39, raised his fist at Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek and shouted in the ear of midfielder Petr Sevcik as Portugal completed a 2-1 comeback win in their opening group game.
And UEFA is currently investigating Bellingham for an obscene gesture towards the Slovakia bench after his stunning goal helped England to a dramatic 2-1 win in the last 16 of Euro 2024 on June 30.
