When England and France met in the tunnel ahead of their World Cup 2022 quarter-final, Kyle Walker was in no mood for Kylian Mbappe.
Much of the build-up focused around Mbappe's battle with the Manchester City man. The PSG superstar has been in fine form in Qatar, with. the 23-year-old being the tournament's top scorer on five goals and having netted twice against Poland in the last 16.
Mbappe did not add to that number as France secured a 2-1 win over the Three Lions to progress into the World Cup semi-final. It was a tense battle throughout but Didier Deschamps' side came out on top, to the despair of Walker and his England teammates.
Ahead of the game, Walker completely blanked the French phenom in the tunnel.
As the two teams lined-up, Mbappe lent out his left arm in Walker's direction as he looked to shake hands with his opponent before going out to battle. Walker took a quick glance in Mbappe's direction, before swivelling his head the opposite way and blanking the France star.
Some fans on social media initially thought that Mbappe was hoping to shake Jordan Henderson's hand. But it was actually Walker who Mbappe was looking for, although his attempts were completely rebuffed by the former Tottenham star.
Walker had vowed not to "roll out a red carpet" for Mbappe ahead of the clash. It was a closely contested battle with Mbappe testing Walker's pace on many occasions.
Some supporters felt that the England man got the better of their personal duel, while others, such as France midfielder Youssouf Fofana, felt the former Monaco attacker came out on top.
In a fleeting interaction with journalists, Fofana said: "So, this battle... The one that we were speaking about before the match. We have to acknowledge that he won it, don’t we?"
