Do you remember those assignments from school that made you ponder your future and think about what you want to be? Well, back in May 2014, 15-year-old Kylian Mbappé and his fellow classmates at the AS Monaco soccer academy were asked to design a magazine cover featuring an image of themselves. And let’s just say, Mbappé’s imagination went wild.
While some of his friends were busy creating mockups of Paris Match or GQ or French Vogue, Mbappé had a different idea. He wanted to make a Time magazine cover featuring himself as the focus. His head was slightly cocked to one side, his hands clasped beneath his chin. And in bold, white font, the headline declared him “El maestro,” the master. The smaller headlines in block letters labeled him the best young player in the world, a priority of France’s national team coach, and the future of soccer.
Fast forward four years, and Mbappé appeared on the actual cover of Time magazine. Talk about prescient! And those headlines? They were spot on too. By the time he was 19, Mbappé had already led France to the World Cup title and became the first teenager since Pelé to score in the final. He was widely regarded as the best young player in the world, representing the future of soccer.
When asked about the magazine cover in a June interview, Mbappé couldn’t help but be a little amazed by it all. “Crazy,” he said, describing the trajectory of his life. “Because, you know, when you’re 15, you have ambition. Every kid has ambition. But when that ambition becomes a reality in just a few years, it’s something crazy.”
It’s safe to say that Kylian Mbappé is a force to be reckoned with in the world of soccer. And who knows, maybe he’ll end up on the cover of Time again someday, this time as “El rey” – the king.