In a meeting between Leon Marchand and the French national soccer team, superstar Kylian Mbappé said he was surprised to hear how much time Marchand spent training.
Taking advantage of a relatively light week of responsibilities in Austin while the Texas men compete at the NCAAs, Marchand took a trip to Boston. There, he’s cheering on his home nation of France in a friendly men’s soccer game against Brazil. The game is taking place today during the time of publication (3/26/26 5:00 EST).
Marchand, who won four gold medals on home soil at the 2024 Paris Olympics, chatted with key figures of France’s national soccer team in front of the press. This included Mbappé, the star of France’s 2022 World Cup runner-up campaign, as well as team manager Even Didier Deschampes. Among other topics, the group discussed differences between swimming and soccer training and competition schedules. Watch the full video in French below:
Deschampes, who was a World Cup Champion as a player in 1998 and as a coach in 2018, was surprised to learned that Marchand has up to four training sessions per day.
“You train 99% of the time,” Mbappé remarked, contrasting it with his own sport that has a higher competition to training ratio. “It’s always right to be able to exchange and see the differences (between different sports),” Deschampes added.
“It’s great to receive a champion like (Marchand), to have a special time,” Mbappé went on to say about his aquatic compatriot. “They have a lot more training, so it’s harder for them, but it’s cool to see another way of working, to see the sport.”
Mbappé is the captain of France’s national team and arguably the most prolific athlete in the European club soccer scene as a forward for Real Madrid. Recently, he tied Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for most goals scored for the club in a calendar year, netting 59 across 58 games in 2025.
Marchand expressed that he was a fan of Mbappé and Les Bleus, but that he was a bad footballer. The 23-year-old Toulouse native is one of France’s most famous athletes outside of soccer, ranking #1 for the country among athletes on Google’s 2024 Year in Search list. While in Boston, Marchand also attended a Celtics game in which the home team took down the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-109.
2 GOATS! Hala madrid!
Wow, what a cool opportunity for Marchand to get to meet and talk with Mbappé (and Deschampes). I think Deschampes is right that it can be great for elite athletes from different sports to talk to each other about training and competition.
Deschamps
I’m impressed that Mbappe impressed about this. 😄
Mbappe is arguably the highest profile footballer in the world, since Ronaldo & Messi no longer playing in the top European football.
He is brilliant & easily the highest profile athlete in France.
Lamine Yamal is better and is only 18 years old.
Barcelona >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Real Madrid
I did say arguably, they would be the top 2 at present.
I would say Barca is better than Real Madrid this year.