A shocking claim has been made that Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), the captain of the French national soccer team, refused to call up an A-match to win the Ballon d’Or.

French media ‘Foot Mercato(꽁머니)’ reported on the 12th (Korea Standard Time) that “Kylian Mbappe, who has made the 2025 Ballon d’Or his top goal, wants to play only important matches for the French national team.”

Mbappe, the captain of the French national soccer team and a world-renowned striker, was not called up to the national team during the A-match period in October. He suffered a injury in the seventh round of the Spanish La Liga in the 2024-25 season against Alaves on April 25.

Although he is not seriously injured, he will reportedly have to rest for about three weeks. When announcing the list of players on Thursday, the French national team decided not to force Mbappe who is recovering from his injury.

However, three days after France excluded Mbappe from the call-up, Mbappe started in La Liga against Villarreal and played 76 minutes.

Although he recovered quickly from his injury as expected, France continued its A-match schedule without Mbappe as originally planned. However, suspicions arose in France that Mbappe deliberately refused to play for the national team in order to pursue his career.

“This is a problem that will not go away anytime soon. Mbappe did not join the French national team during the A-match period in October,” the French media said. “Mbappe, who announced that he was injured, immediately started the league game against Villarreal, which caused a lot of controversy.”

“The controversy sparked another controversy. Mbappe showed up at a Stockholm nightclub during France’s A-match match against Israel,” he added.

Of course, if he is excluded from the national team due to an injury, he can join a club as a break. However, as Mbappe was excluded from the national team due to injury after starting the A-match without any problem, Mbappe’s move sparked controversy even within France.

Regarding Mbappe’s visit to the nightclub, the media said, “Real Madrid gave Mbappe a week off during this A-match break, and he returned to the club this Saturday morning.”

The media also said, “Mbappe has already publicly said that he will not attend the A-match call-up in October during the last call-up, and France knew this.” The reason why Mbappe refused to play the French A-match while playing Real was because he was aiming for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

“Given the injuries that have occurred in Europe in recent weeks, Mbappe seems to be more cautious not to be injured,” the media said. “He seems to want to play only important games for the French national team, with the 2025 Ballon d’Or as his top priority.”

The number of recent matches has increased significantly, leading to a number of soccer players suffering from injuries. Tottenham Hotspur and South Korea’s national soccer team captain Son Heung-min are also recovering from a thigh injury ahead of the A-match in October.

In order to win the Ballon d’Or, it is important to avoid injury as much as possible for the rest of the schedule. To this end, the media argues that Mbappe decided to take a rest during the A-match schedule.

However, Mbappe is a soccer player representing France and currently captain of the national team. Football fans have raised eyebrows at the claim that Mbappe seems to prioritize the club over the national team for his career.