Brazil legend Ronaldo says Kylian Mbappe reminds him of himself and thinks the France forward will finish as the best player at the 2022 World Cup.
Mbappe is currently the leading scorer in Qatar with five goals in five matches.
He has a chance to win his second World Cup as France face Morocco in the semi-finals on Wednesday after edging past England.
Ronaldo, who also won the World Cup twice with Brazil, thinks France are the team to beat and Mbappe is the standout player at the tournament.
“I can talk about how fast he is, how good he is and he reminded me of when I played,” he said.
“He knows how to use his ability, how to go faster than the other players and use that ability to assist or score.
“I think France is the favourite team now to win the World Cup. I said that before the World Cup starts and, for me, Mbappe is going to be the best player at this World Cup.”
Mbappe wasn’t on the scoresheet as France beat England in the quarter-finals.
The game saw Harry Kane miss a late penalty that would have levelled the score at 2-2 and Ronaldo believes England should be “proud” of their performance.
“England played very, very good football against France. I think it’s happening the same as what happened with Brazil.
“I think England played very good, but at the end, you know, small details change the whole result of the match. But the English people should be proud of the World Cup they played.”
Ronaldo’s Brazil also went out at the quarter-final stage after losing to Croatia on penalties.
Brazil were one of the favourites to win the tournament for a sixth time but conceded late in extra-time as they suffered a crushing defeat to Croatia.
Neymar admitted he was “psychologically destroyed” after the match, but Ronaldo expects him to come back stronger and perhaps play at the next World Cup in 2026 when he will be 34.
“I think Neymar is very upset with the result of the World Cup for the Brazil national team. It’s normal that he’s feeling that way for now, but I’m also sure that he will come back stronger and continue playing with the national team.
“He’s still young, 30 years old. I think he can play the next World Cup.
“I’m very happy that he showed the world a commitment for the last six months, for the Brazil national team. He behaved himself. He took care of himself. And he played a good match, the first match. He got a very strong tackle on his ankle. He made a huge sacrifice to play again for the national team.
“He played very good in the last match. I think he’s very important for us. So I hope that he gets well soon and back strong in the football world with PSG and the Brazil national team.”
Neymar scored against Croatia to move level with Pele’s record of 77 goals for Brazil.
