Just how fast is Kylian Mbappe? France World Cup star one of the quickest players on the planet | Sporting News (2024)

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Kylian Mbappe might just be more jackal than human. For the viewing public, that's not such a bad thing.

Everything about the Parisian prince screams flair, but no quality embodies that better than his speed on the pitch. He tends to glide past players, deftly flicking the ball one way before marauding in the opposite direction.

Mbappe is a speed demon, so to speak. But just how fast is he? And how does his speed compare to that of other sprinters that took part in the 2022 World Cup? The Sporting News has you covered.

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How fast is Kylian Mbappe?

Sitting at the pole of fastest Ligue 1 players is Mbappe. The lightning left winger put up the fastest run time over the first half of the French season, clocking in at a blistering 36 km/h (22.4 mph).

Mbappe sits in rarified air among World Cup starlets in regards to velocity. However, he was far from the fastest player in Qatar. That honor went to Rennes youngster Kamaldeen Sulemana, who reached a top speed of 35.7 km/h during a brief 57-minute group-stage cameo for Ghana, per The Athletic.

The other names sitting atop the Qatari speed charts read like a list of players with 90+ rated pace on FIFA, with those such as Spain's Nico Williams, Daniel James of Wales, Antonee Robinson of the USA, Morocco's Achraf Hakimi and Canada talisman Alphonso Davies all reaching at least 35 km/h.

Fastest players at World Cup 2022

Here is an exhaustive list of the fastest players in the 2022 World Cup group stage, according to data pulled by The Athletic.

Leading the charge is Sulemana, who slots in ahead of world superstars like Mbappe, Hakimi and Davies, among others.