Heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, France were regarded by many as the favourites to go all the way. A major reason for that was Les Bleus’ overwhelming abundance of world-class attacking talent, spearheaded by their captain, Kylian Mbappe.
Since making his debut for France in 2017, Mbappe has quickly gone on to establish himself as one of the best players in the world, and he is often at the peak of his powers when representing his country at major international tournaments.
With a spot in the World Cup final on the line, Mbappe and company faced off against another European heavyweight, Spain, in Dallas on Tuesday.
According to the bookies, France were slight favourites to advance. However, an utterly dominant performance from Spain turned the tide, and La Roja cruised to a 2-0 win thanks to a Mikel Oyarzabal penalty and a second half strike from right-back Pedro Porro.
Soon after the heartbreaking loss, fans began taking shots at Mbappe, editing images of him to replace his face with that of NFL superstar Dak Prescott.
Some of these memes, which were posted to X, have since gone viral. One has accumulated over 47,000 likes and 4,600 reposts.
Kylian Mbappé today in Dallas pic.twitter.com/9tk2ETlLm1
— Sgt Blackout 🫡 (@coldcallsniper) July 14, 2026
Fans have been drawing similarities between Mbappe and Prescott because the France-Spain game took place at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, which is also the home field of NFL Franchise the Dallas Cowboys, the team Prescott plays for.
Just like France’s semi-final loss, the Cowboys have also endured several heartbreaking results in high-profile NFL playoff fixtures at the same venue in recent years.
In his career so far, Prescott has 2–5 playoff record. All five of his losses follow a similar trend – slow starts from his team, sometimes combined with costly mistakes from Prescott himself.
In his most recent losses, Prescott did not perform up to expectations, as his passes led to crucial interceptions in the opponents’ favour, allowing them to dominate proceedings and leaving the Cowboys virtually chasing the game from the get go. As a result, they were eliminated by the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Mbappe has also been called out at times for choking in the biggest moments of recent international tournaments. In Euro 2020, he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout, as Switzerland completed a memorable comeback to knock out Les Bleus.
In Euro 2024, he did not enjoy the best of tournaments. After breaking his nose in the opening match, he struggled to adapt to a new protective mask, and ended up scoring only one goal all campaign. Just like this year’s World Cup, it was Spain that ended France’s run in the semi-finals back in 2024.
There could also be another subtle factor at play leading to such comparisons.
Like Mbappe, Prescott is arguably the most influential player on his team, as he plays the quarterback position. This perhaps leads to him shouldering a disproportionate level of blame when the team does not succeed, as fans often expect such players to do make important contributions every game, to the point where they almost take it for granted.
The failure to do so gets these players a lot of backlash, even in cases where it may not fully be warranted.
Barely missing out on the opportunity to win football’s biggest prize will undoubtedly be an extremely tough pill for Kylian Mbappe and the French team to swallow, but they will have to quickly dust themselves off and get ready to compete again, as they still have a chance to get their hands on a medal.
France play their final World Cup game on Saturday, facing England in the third-place playoff at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
