Did Kylian Mbappe accidentally post Ester Exposito on his story? Why the World Cup’s top scorer had a great tournament

Last Updated on 21 July 2026

Kylian Mbappe had the most extraordinary World Cup, but his final game was actually extraordinary. He scored twice against England in France’s 6-4 bronze-medal thriller, took his World Cup tally to 22 goals becoming the competition’s all-time leading scorer.

In doing so, he surpassed Miroslav Klose, who had held the World Cup record for 12 years. He won the Golden Boot. He had the world talking about him.

And then, within minutes of the final whistle, he made the internet talk about him for an entirely different reason.

Kylian Mbappe’s post, the delete and the Ester Exposito screenshot that escaped into the world

The photo went up seconds after the final whistle in Miami. Before Mbappe could hit delete, fans had already saved it: Spanish actress Ester Exposito standing barefoot at a hotel mirror, wearing his black zig-zag No.10 away kit, shorts and captain’s armband.

It vanished immediately: the kind of slip that reads like a Close Friends story that accidentally escaped to the main grid. The reaction was instant. “This is so cute, why’d he delete it?” wrote one fan. “Wait, just went to check: why did he delete it?” laughed another.

By the time Mbappe’s team had composed themselves, the screenshot was everywhere, in every language, with every possible caption. Exposito, 26, is the Spanish actress who broke out as Carla in Netflix’s Elite. Now, she has explained that she knows nothing about football.

However, she flew in from Los Angeles for the match: her first appearance at a France game after months spent working stateside. The timing could not have been more loaded. Exposito’s presence alone was headline material. The photo made it something else entirely.

A six-month trail and a confirmation nobody made officially

Mbappe and Exposito first sparked dating rumours in March, when she was photographed watching him play during a Real Madrid game. By April, they had been on a date to a bowling alley in Paris, reportedly. Then they were photographed again, spotted on a boat.

Exposito had previously denied being in a relationship with Mbappe without specifically naming him. The photo of her wearing his captain’s armband and No.10 shirt, posted to his own Instagram by his own hand, is arguably the most efficient rebuttal of that denial.

For, Mbappe, he won the Golden Boot and broke the all-time World Cup scoring record. He also, simultaneously and accidentally, hard-launched the romance of the summer. It was quite a World Cup for the 27-year-old. The delete button, it turns out, is not always fast enough.