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Kylian Mbappe is having himself an incredible World Cup. The French star is currently tied with Lionel for the lead in the Golden Boot race with eight goals through his country’s first eight matches. While there’s something special about what he does with the ball at his feet, it’s also worth discussing what he does when he’s just out there running around.
A lot was made earlier this week about the way that Norway’s Erling Haaland moves slowly to set up his attacks, but maybe we should instead be focusing on the speed with which Mbappe does the same. On the play where Mbappe earned a penalty kick in the first half he was absolutely flying. Watching him accelerate and run past defenders it looked like he was running very fast and it turns out, he was.
MORE: Spurned goalie tosses ball at Kylian Mbappe after France beats Paraguay
Mbappe was measured at 37.6 kilometers per hour during the match. It was the fastest recorded speed of anyone at the 2026 World Cup.
That’s impressive. But when you Americanize those numbers and convert them to miles per hour you’ll find out Mbappe was running 23.36 mph. Below is Raheem Mostert running 23.1 mph back in 2020. Tyreek Hill’s top recorded speed in 23.24 mph back in 2017. Basically, in that video up there, that is about the fastest we’ve ever seen anyone run in a professional team sport.
MORE: Tyreek Hill’s devastating injury could put his NFL career in serious jeopardy
Obviously, Mbappe isn’t wearing pads or carrying a football, but Tyreek Hill doesn’t run around trying control a ball with his feet either. Mbappe has been clocked at a full 38 km/h and the only person who has beaten that on the pitch is FOX’s Thierry Henry who supposedly reached 39.2 km/h way back in 1998.
To put this is more context, Usain Bolt’s top speed during his world record setting 100-meter in 2009 was 27.8 mph. So basically, the only way you can see an athlete run faster is to turn on the one sport where the entire point is to run as fast as humanly possible in a straight line.
It’s a pretty cool thing to see.
Continue reading...
A lot was made earlier this week about the way that Norway’s Erling Haaland moves slowly to set up his attacks, but maybe we should instead be focusing on the speed with which Mbappe does the same. On the play where Mbappe earned a penalty kick in the first half he was absolutely flying. Watching him accelerate and run past defenders it looked like he was running very fast and it turns out, he was.
MORE: Spurned goalie tosses ball at Kylian Mbappe after France beats Paraguay
Mbappe was measured at 37.6 kilometers per hour during the match. It was the fastest recorded speed of anyone at the 2026 World Cup.
Mbappe vs. Tyreek Hill
That’s impressive. But when you Americanize those numbers and convert them to miles per hour you’ll find out Mbappe was running 23.36 mph. Below is Raheem Mostert running 23.1 mph back in 2020. Tyreek Hill’s top recorded speed in 23.24 mph back in 2017. Basically, in that video up there, that is about the fastest we’ve ever seen anyone run in a professional team sport.
MORE: Tyreek Hill’s devastating injury could put his NFL career in serious jeopardy
Obviously, Mbappe isn’t wearing pads or carrying a football, but Tyreek Hill doesn’t run around trying control a ball with his feet either. Mbappe has been clocked at a full 38 km/h and the only person who has beaten that on the pitch is FOX’s Thierry Henry who supposedly reached 39.2 km/h way back in 1998.
To put this is more context, Usain Bolt’s top speed during his world record setting 100-meter in 2009 was 27.8 mph. So basically, the only way you can see an athlete run faster is to turn on the one sport where the entire point is to run as fast as humanly possible in a straight line.
It’s a pretty cool thing to see.
Continue reading...
