By Mike Cerutti
“Mother Teresa once said, ‘Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.'”
That line captures the kind of impact that goes beyond trophies and headlines.
You may or may not be his fan on the pitch. But you must love him for his life of giving. In a world where fame often comes with noise, Kylian Mbappé has chosen a quieter kind of legacy, one built on showing up for people who need it most.
In this rare weekend classic, Mike Cerutti, Africa’s recently voted Most Outstanding Humanitarian Writer of the Year, talks about Kylian Mbappé’s life of giving. It is a story that starts with football, but ends with children in hospital wards finding reasons to smile.
Mbappé’s career began to turn heads at AS Monaco, where as a teenager he helped the club win Ligue 1 and reached the Champions League semi-finals. His speed, composure, and maturity made it clear he was not just another prospect. He was a generational talent ready for the world stage.
The big move came in 2017 when he joined Paris Saint-Germain. Since then he has become the face of French football, winning multiple Ligue 1 titles, domestic cups, and finishing as one of Europe’s top scorers year after year. In 2022 he led the World Cup final in goals, and by 2024 he made the highly anticipated move to Real Madrid, carrying the weight of expectation at one of the biggest clubs in the world.
In 2018, Kylian Mbappé was only 19 years old when he helped France win the FIFA World Cup in Russia. He scored a goal in the final as France defeated Croatia 4–2. It was one of the biggest moments of his young career, the kind that changes a life overnight and puts the whole world on your shoulders.
After the tournament, Mbappé received about €500,000 in World Cup bonuses from the French Football Federation. Many people would have kept the money. Mbappé made a different choice. He donated every euro to Premiers de Cordée, a charity in Paris that uses sports to bring joy and hope to children in hospitals and young people with disabilities.
This was not a one-time act of kindness. Even before becoming a world-famous football star, Mbappé had been visiting children in hospitals and taking part in the charity’s sports activities while he was still a teenager at Monaco. He did it without cameras, without press releases, simply because he wanted to.
When asked about his decision, Mbappé simply said, “Playing for the French national team is a privilege. I don’t need to be paid for that.” That sentence says a lot about how he views service. For him, representing his country was already the reward.
The French Football Federation confirmed the donation. Frédéric Ballier, the founder of Premiers de Cordée, praised Mbappé’s generosity. He said, “Kylian has always been close to us and to the children. It’s incredibly generous and it means so much to the kids he visits.” For those children, a visit from a World Cup winner is more than a photo. It is proof that they are remembered.
Mbappé’s gift was about much more than money. It showed that even after becoming a World Cup champion, he never forgot the people who needed support the most. Success did not pull him away from compassion. If anything, it gave him a bigger platform to practice it.
After helping France win the 2018 World Cup, 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé donated his entire €500,000 bonus to sick children, saying, “Playing for the French national team is a privilege. I don’t need to be paid for that.” In that moment, he reminded us that greatness is not only measured in goals, but in what you choose to do when no one is forcing you to give.
