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Just how fast is Kylian Mbappe... and can Kyle Walker keep up?

A composite image of Kyle Walker and Kylian Mbappe with red and blue circles behind them respectively
A composite image of Kyle Walker and Kylian Mbappe with red and blue circles behind them respectively

It has been billed as the battle of the sprint kings. In the blue corner Kylian Mbappe, France’s fleet-footed phenomenon, with five goals already to his name at this World Cup. Up against him, the only man in the England squad seen as capable of keeping Mbappe honest. Or at least keeping up with him: Manchester City’s Kyle Walker.

The winner, it is said, will go a long way to determining the outcome of Saturday’s eagerly anticipated World Cup quarter-final at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

But is the hype justified? Are those breathless comparisons between Mbappe and Usain Bolt in full flight in any way accurate? And is Walker, at 32 and just back from six weeks out following groin surgery, really as quick as he once was?

Jonas Dodoo, one of the UK’s top sprint coaches and a man who has worked with hundreds of elite football and rugby players, gives the first of those notions short shrift.

“The media don’t always do themselves favours when they make these comparisons,” he says, laughing. “What tends to happen, when we hear footballers compared to elite sprinters, is they compare the top speed of the player with the average speed of the sprinter.

“So when you hear them say ‘Mbappe hit 35.3 km/h’ in that Poland [last 16] game last week and that Usain Bolt’s 100m speed from his world record in 2009 was 37.58km/h, what they are talking about is Mbappe's peak speed versus Bolt’s average speed.

“It’s apples and oranges. Bolt was going from a standing start. His peak speed in the 60m-70m stretch of his world record run was actually more like 44-45 km/h.”

France's forward #10 Kylian Mbappe runs with the ball during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group D football match between Tunisia and France at the Education City Stadium in Al-Rayyan, west of Doha on November 30, 2022 - JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images
France's forward #10 Kylian Mbappe runs with the ball during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group D football match between Tunisia and France at the Education City Stadium in Al-Rayyan, west of Doha on November 30, 2022 - JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

Dodoo adds: “In fact, and this is not to disrespect female sprinters, but very quick football players are generally not quite as quick as elite female sprinters. That is a more realistic comparison.”

Which is not to say both men are not seriously quick. Dodoo, who trained under legendary American track and field coach Dan Pfaff and now counts the FA, the RFU and five Premier League clubs among his clients at his Speedworks Training company, says both players are right at the top end of footballers he has observed.

Mbappe has been clocked at 36km/h this season in Ligue 1 which is equal to 10m/s, with Walker’s max speed reputedly 35.4kph (9.83m/s).

“In our studies, only three athletes out of a dataset of over 200 elite team sports athletes clocked over 10m/s (36kph),” Dodoo says. “So they are right at the top end. They also recorded those speeds in an uncontrolled environment when speed was not the main focus. So yes, they are rapid.”

Walker, Dodoo says, actually has more of a classic sprinters’ technique than Mbappe, with more of a ‘frontsided’ bias. Indeed Mbappe himself has praised Walker’s running technique – telling France Football last year that the Manchester City player was “less explosive from a standing start” but “like a tank” once he gets going.

But can the England defender – who says he does not plan on “rolling out the red carpet” for Mbappe on Saturday – contain the World Cup’s top scorer?

There are no guarantees when it comes to such a phenomenal talent as Mbappe, but in terms of pace Dodoo thinks Walker is well equipped, pointing out not only that the Manchester City man is deceptively quick off the mark, but also clearly in a good mental place.

“In terms of that ‘tank’ comparison, players like Walker, who can go through the gears and sustain that speed over longer distances, might look like they are building up a head of steam from a relatively slow start,” he says.

“But you can’t underestimate his acceleration, or his confidence. Obviously he has had a big injury recently, and he’s coming back from that. But in that last game [against Senegal], he knocked the ball around a player and tried to run around him. That shows you that he is confident. Kyle looks really good to me. That's credit to the FA, to [physical performance coach] Ben Rosenblatt and [head physio] Steve Kemp. They’ve obviously got him in great nick. It’s going to be some tussle.”