Kylian Mbappé is delivering outstanding performances with the French national team ahead of facing Spain in the World Cup semifinal on Tuesday in Dallas, after two inconsistent seasons with Real Madrid in which he achieved impressive individual numbers but lacked collective success.

Mbappé continues his remarkable brilliance in the current World Cup, topping the scoring chart with eight goals, tied with Messi.

Real Madrid, which has not won any major title in the past two years, set a new record since the quarterfinal stage of the World Cup.

Thanks to 19 goals scored by its players, the club became the highest-scoring through its players in a single World Cup edition, surpassing German Bayern Munich in 2014 and French Paris Saint-Germain in 2022 (18 goals each).

No Real Madrid player was included in the Spanish national team squad for the tournament, the first time this has happened.

This is partly thanks to Englishman Jude Bellingham (6 goals), and even more so to Mbappé, who has already scored 8 goals and tops the tournament's scoring chart, tied with Argentine Lionel Messi.

In the United States, the French star is delivering his best performances in the tournament where he built his legend, and which he, his coach Didier Deschamps, and all his teammates entered with a clear determination to give France its third star.

During a lackluster end of the season with his club, some journalists and Real Madrid fans questioned the commitment of the French national team captain. His dazzling form in the United States has certainly not helped change these impressions.

Sportingly, Mbappé's second year at Real Madrid, the club he always dreamed of joining to win the Champions League, was frustrating. The team exited early from the Champions League quarterfinals against Bayern Munich, and quickly lost the La Liga race to Barcelona.

Although Mbappé recorded impressive individual numbers—42 goals in 44 matches, including 25 in the league that earned him the top scorer title for the second consecutive season—the club, which measures success only by trophies, saw tensions in its relationship with the French striker.

An example of this occurred in May after a match against Oviedo, when Mbappé, in his usual style, mocked his coach Álvaro Arbeloa, who kept him on the bench despite his return from an injury that sidelined him for three weeks.

He then said sarcastically: 'I didn't play because the coach told me I am the fourth forward in the team, behind Gonzalo García, Vinícius, and Mastantuono. I am not angry with him, but I have to work hard to regain my starting spot and become better than Gonzalo, Mastantuono, and Vini.'

These comments angered the hardcore Real Madrid fans, who subsequently booed him.

Also in March, media reported disagreements between Mbappé and his medical entourage on one side, and Real Madrid's medical staff on the other, regarding the treatment method for a chronic knee injury. The player tried to end the controversy, denying any error in the club's diagnosis, but that did not convince everyone.

Since then, Real Madrid changed its medical staff, and also changed its coach. To avoid repeating the failure of Xabi Alonso's tenure and then the struggles under Álvaro Arbeloa, the club hired Portuguese José Mourinho, who was brought back to the team to pull it out of crisis.

Shortly after his appointment, Mourinho, in his usual cunning style, expressed his hope that 'his players be eliminated from the World Cup as soon as possible.' A statement bearing the unmistakable Portuguese mark.

But more seriously, he said in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine in late June about the French star: 'The only thing I can say about Kylian Mbappé is that he is an exceptional player, and I will try to help him become even better than he is.'

It remains the hope of Real Madrid fans that the Frenchman leads their team in the same way he leads the French national team in the United States... except for Tuesday's match against Spain.

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Despite Real Madrid's collective failures, Mbappé remains one of the tournament's standout stars and the leader of France's ambitions to win the third title. The semifinal test against Spain will be a new opportunity to prove his ability to shine in decisive matches, while questions remain about his future with the royal club amid recent tensions.