Mbappe embraces Ballon d'Or talk after historic World Cup exploits

Madrid: Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe said Monday it was natural for people to consider him as a potential Ballon d'Or winner this year after his World Cup exploits. mchezo.life

The France captain scored 10 goals at the tournament this summer to win the Golden Boot, with his country finishing fourth, and has netted 22 in the competition during his career, making him the World Cup's all-time top scorer.

Mbappe, 27, has not yet won the prestigious trophy given to the world's best player.

"I think that when you play for Real Madrid, which is the best club in the world, naturally people associate you with that kind of award, they associate you with collective awards, individual awards," Mbappe told reporters.

"A lot of people, when they see me in the street, talk to me about the Ballon d'Or, a lot of people talk about me as a possible Ballon d'Or winner...

"Of course I made a lot of history this summer in the most important competition in sport, but we'll see.

"I have the feeling that it's a good year for that, but there's still a long time to go and people are free to vote for whoever they think is the best player in the world."

Since joining Real Madrid in 2024 Mbappe has scored huge quantities of goals but the club has failed to win a major trophy.

On Tuesday the record 15-time European champions host Inter Milan in the Champions League in the first match of the league phase.

During Mbappe's first two years at Madrid the team has appeared unbalanced, with too many star names, including the Frenchman and Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior, widely considered not to be contributing enough to the team effort -- in contrast to Ousmane Dembele at Paris Saint-Germain and Raphinha at Barcelona.

"We have to improve," admitted Mbappe. "But I could play dumb and tell you that I score more goals than (Dembele and Raphinha), and that they need to score more goals to be like me.

"Everyone is different, but I want to do things intelligently and say that of course I have to improve and all that, but I don't like comparisons because I think I do a lot of things that others don't do."

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho recently said he would prefer if Mbappe scored fewer goals but also worked hard to help the team win titles.

Mbappe said he would accept lower numbers if it led to trophies, but noted they were not mutually exclusive.

"I'd take 30 goals with titles, yes, but... for me it's an absurd debate," said Mbappe.

"I always want to score goals and win titles... you don't have to choose, you can do both things."

Mourinho faces old friends

Veteran Portuguese coach Mourinho led Inter to Champions League glory in 2010 at the Santiago Bernabeu before he departed to take over at Real Madrid.

Despite his history with the Italian side, whom he steered to the treble that year, the coach said that only mattered before and after, but not during the match.

"There aren't many (people) left from my time, but it'll always be a pleasure to see people, even if I don't know them, but people who defend Inter, before and after," said Mourinho.

"During the game I want to win, they want to win, and there won't be time to think about things from a wonderful past."

Mourinho wants his Madrid players to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, 1-0 at Real Betis on Friday in La Liga.

"I want to win. I could tell you I want to play well, but I don't want to play well like we did against Betis and lose," said Mourinho.

"Obviously we're in a phase where we play eight games and the objective in these eight games is to qualify, and I think we're going to do that. But I want to think about this match in isolation from that context.

"I want to think about this match as a one-off game. I don't want to think that we still have seven more matches to play, and I want to win."

اعتبر قائد المنتخب الفرنسي ومهاجم ريال مدريد الإسباني كيليان مبابي من الطبيعي أن يعتبره الناس مرشحا محتملا للفوز بجائزة الكرة الذهبية هذا العام، لاسيما بعد الذي حققه في مونديال هذا الصيف.
وسجل مبابي 10 أهداف في النهائيات التي أقيمت في أمريكا، وتوج بالحذاء الذهبي خلال مشوار بلاده إلى دور نصف النهائي، رافعا رصيده الإجمالي إلى 22 هدفا في كأس العالم، ليصبح بذلك الهداف التاريخي للبطولة.
ولم يسبق لمبابي (27 عاما) أن فاز بالكرة الذهبية التي تُمنح سنويا لأفضل لاعب في العالم.

تواصل «نيو بالانس» تعزيز حضورها في السوق القطرية، بعدما دشنت متجرها الجديد في «فيلاجيو مول»، في خطوة جديدة ضمن استراتيجية الشركة للتوسع في الدولة، بالتزامن مع تنامي حضورها في القطاع الرياضي والمجتمعي.
وجاء افتتاح المتجر بحضور عبدالله ناصر النعيمي، الرئيس التنفيذي بالإنابة لمؤسسة أسباير زون، وناصر عبدالله الهاجري، المدير العام بالإنابة لأسباير لوجستيكس، ولاعب منتخبنا الوطني عاصم مادبو، والعداءة القطرية لولوة المري، سفيرة «نيو بالانس».
ويقع المتجر بالقرب من حديقة أسباير، التي تستضيف أسبوعيًا فعاليات نادي «نيو بالانس» للجري، ضمن شراكة متواصلة مع مؤسسة أسباير زون تهدف إلى دعم الرياضة المجتمعية وتشجيع أفراد المجتمع على ممارسة النشاط البدني.
وأكد ناصر عبدالله الهاجري أن افتتاح المتجر يمثل إضافة جديدة للحضور الرياضي في منطقة أسباير، مشيرًا إلى أهمية الشراكة مع «نيو بالانس» في دعم المبادرات الرياضية والمجتمعية.
من جانبه، أكد ستيوارت هينوود، المدير الأول لمنطقة الشرق الأوسط وأفريقيا والهند في «نيو بالانس»، أن قطر تمثل سوقًا مهمة للشركة، مشددًا على أن استراتيجية الشركة تتجاوز التوسع التجاري إلى بناء شراكات طويلة الأمد مع المجتمع والقطاع الرياضي.
ويعد متجر فيلاجيو أحدث محطات «نيو بالانس» في قطر، بعد افتتاح متجرها الأول في «بلاس فاندوم» بمدينة لوسيل عام 2025، ثم متجر «مول قطر»، قبل تدشين أول متجر لمفهوم «Grey Store» في الشرق الأوسط في «بلاس فاندوم» مطلع 2026.
وتعزز الشركة حضورها الرياضي من خلال شراكتها مع نادي السد، التي تم تمديدها في 2025 لخمس سنوات إضافية حتى 2030، إلى جانب تعاونها مع أكاديمية أسباير، وشراكتها الممتدة لثلاث سنوات بصفتها الشريك الرسمي للأحذية والملابس الرياضية لماراثون الدوحة من Ooredoo.

Doha, Qatar: Former Olympic champion Fares Ibrahim and rising talent Ouisal Ikhlef will spearhead Qatar’s medal bid in weightlifting at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, as the duo targets medals in Japan from September 19 to October 4.

Fares, who won silver at the Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Asian Games before going on to achieve the biggest success of his career with Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020, will be looking to guide Qatar back onto the podium.

Ikhlef, meanwhile, has been showing encouraging progress and is regarded as one of the emerging talents in Qatari weightlifting.

khlef’s most recent milestone came at the 2026 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Gandhinagar, India. Facing a top-class field, she delivered an exceptional performance to claim two silver medals (Clean & Jerk and Total) and one bronze medal (Snatch) in the 86kg+ category.

Notably, Ikhlef out-lifted Republic of Korea’s world No. 2-ranked Park Hye-jeong to secure her spot on the continental podium. She registered personal bests across the board, lifting 130kg in the Snatch and 169kg in the Clean & Jerk for a total score of 299kg

In late 2025, Ikhlef staged a flawless campaign at the Combined Doha Championships. Competing simultaneously across three tournaments - the Qatar International Cup, the Arab Championships, and the West Asian Championships - she swept a staggering nine gold medals, topping competitors from heavyweights like Thailand and South Korea.

The duo will be determined to restore Qatar to the Asian Games podium after the national team endured a disappointing campaign at Hangzhou 2022, where it failed to win a medal. Qatar has enjoyed a proud tradition in Asian Games weightlifting, winning three medals across three editions, including one gold and two silver.

The first came at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Republic of Korea, when Asaad Saeed Saif claimed gold in the 105kg category. He produced a total lift of 417.5kg, with 192.5kg in the snatch and 225kg in the clean and jerk, in a performance that announced Qatar’s arrival among the continent’s leading weightlifting nations.

Four years later, Jaber Saeed Salem added a silver medal on home soil at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. Competing in the over-105kg category, Salem lifted a total of 410kg, including 185kg in the snatch and 225kg in the clean and jerk, to finish second behind renowned Iranian champion Hossein Rezazadeh after a closely contested battle.

Qatar’s most recent Asian Games medal came at Jakarta-Palembang 2018, when Ibrahim won silver in the 94kg category. Fares lifted a combined 381kg, comprising 166kg in the snatch and 215kg in the clean and jerk, to finish behind Iran’s Sohrab Moradi, who had set a world record at the time.

That silver marked an important turning point in Fares’ career, providing further momentum for the young lifter, who went on to achieve the biggest success of his career by winning Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.

Now an experienced lifter, Fares returns to the Asian Games carrying the expectations of a nation and the experience of competing on the biggest stages. Alongside him, Ikhlef will be looking to make her mark and underline her potential as one of Qatar’s rising weightlifting stars.