EXCLUSIVE: Emmanuel Petit backs Mbappe for 'revenge' mission at Euro 2024

On June 28th 2021, France were cruising against Switzerland in their last 16 tie at Bucharest. Paul Pogba had scored in the 75th minute to add to Karim Benzema's second-half double, which put the French 3-1 up with less than ten of the 90 minutes remaining. However, the Swiss hit back with two late goals to stun France and force extra time.

"We were not good enough on the pitch," Petit recalls of that day to Flashscore. "The last 15 minutes of the game we lost the plot, we lost emotions. Some players were fighting on the pitch."

When extra time did not produce any further goals the game went to penalties, and Switzerland held their nerve to send the French team packing for a return to a disappointed nation.

"They know that what they did three years ago was not good enough," Petit said.

"They need revenge. First of all for themselves but also for the French people, because we all know the quality of this team. We know that they can do much better than that.

"After reaching the final against Argentina at the last World Cup, they have to do something good during these Euros."

Hard to believe in the current climate, but it was Mbappe who missed that crucial penalty against the Swiss to halt France's tournament before it really began. But rather than carrying any emotional baggage from that day, Petit feels the 25-year-old will have his full focus on what the upcoming championship can offer.

"If you listen to what Mbappe is saying at a press conference, individually this is a target for him because he wants to win the Golden Boot," Petit said. "Now he's signed for Real Madrid so he's reaching a different world.

"He wants to win that Euros because he knows that he has to win the Euros if he wants to come even more into the football history."

Head coach Didier Deschamps is another who is desperate to get his hands on that trophy. The 55-year-old has been in charge of the national side since 2012, and in that time has guided France to three out of a possible five finals.

France won the 2018 World Cup under his leadership and were within a Lionel Messi-shaped whisker of defending their title four years later. But Deschamps has never won the Euros as a coach, and after his side were narrowly beaten by Portugal in the 2016 final, it is something on which he has an eternally sharp focus.

"It's been in his throat for a couple of years now," Petit, who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 alongside Deschamps as a player, said. "He wants to win that tournament. He wants to be the greatest manager in France.

"There are so many reasons why the French players want to win that tournament, but they all know it will be difficult."

"We know in France that winning the Euros is more difficult than winning the World Cup," he added.

France have not won the Euros since 2000, when Deschamps captained the side. Now the coach, Deschamps is aware of the importance of having a strong leader in the playing group, and therefore it came as no surprise when he turned to prodigy Mbappe to wear the armband.

"He gave him the key to the team," Petit says of Mbappe's importance to Deschamps. "He's driving the truck.

"There's only two players who can have freedom on the pitch in this team, it's Mbappe and (Antoine) Griezmann."

Even more so than usual, all eyes will be on Mbappe after his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid was confirmed last week. The worst-kept secret in football was finally in the open as Madrid showed off their latest Galáctico.

Mbappe got the move he had dreamed of as a boy, and Real got a man brimming with the kind of confidence that had him warning Barcelona ahead of last season's Champions League knockouts: "It's the time of the great players. I'm ready and, as always, I'm not going to hide."

Petit described Mbappe's prolonged exit as "a nightmare", but feels that the resolution to the drawn-out farewell will benefit the newly-unshackled and highly-confident forward.

"He knows that because he's signed for Madrid, the biggest club in the world, the attention will be even more on him," the former Arsenal and Chelsea man said.

"He loves that. He loves attention, he loves taking responsibility on the pitch."

Petit continued: "I am happy that now he's free in his mind and I'm happy as well that he's having even more pressure on his shoulders because he talks a lot sometimes in the press, and I know from experience that sometimes it's better not to talk too much. Just play, and then after that you can talk.

"But he loves to talk before the game. He loves to put pressure on himself, he loves to be in the middle of the attention - he's going to get it, don't worry about that."

But Mbappe is not the only big-name player looking to deliver silverware to a country that has painfully missed out in recent times. Harry Kane is looking to do the same for England after they suffered a semi-final exit in the 2018 World Cup and lost the 2020 final to Italy, and it was the French who sent England home in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

"For me the main opponents will be England and Portugal," Petit said when asked who posed the biggest threat to France's title ambitions.

"England because they are so close to France. They are so close to winning a big tournament.

"I remember the last game they played against us (at the 2022 World Cup), they were better than France on the pitch and we won that game based on a few details."

As for Portugal, Petit feels their credentials largely boil down to their own prodigal son in Cristiano Ronaldo - who the 53-year-old believes will be the top scorer at Euro 2024.

"(Mbappe) will be close, but I think that will be Cristiano Ronaldo because he's a natural," he said.

"Why? Because when I look at the team-mates on the pitch, he's got so many great players who have the ability to put him in the best driving position to score goals."

Petit continued: "They have so many great, talented players who have the technical skills to give it to him on a plate.

"Because he has this quality - he's so focused on his goals - I think he will be the best scorer of the competition."

Emmanuel Petit was speaking on behalf of BetMGM. Play the new £2 million Golden Goals game by predicting Euro 2024 scores at betmgm.co.uk. BeGambleAware 18+.