Ronaldo vs. Mbappé: Clash of generations at Euro 2024 has just been given some extra spice

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappé.

A clash of soccer icons. A clash of generations.

They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday, and this heavyweight meeting might have got just that little bit bigger.

“It is, without doubt, my last European Championship,” the 39-year-old Ronaldo said after his tearful, emotionally charged performance in Portugal’s penalty-shootout victory over Slovenia in the last 16.

That may have just confirmed what many were presuming anyway.

Still, there’s now a definitive specter of finality to Ronaldo’s long, headline-grabbing Euros adventure that could be brought to an end by Mbappé, the heir apparent to Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after their long-time dominance of the sport.

Mbappé grew up with pictures of Ronaldo on his bedroom wall.

A photo is inevitably doing the rounds on social media of what is apparently their first ever meeting, at Real Madrid’s training ground at Valdebebas in 2012 when a 13-year-old Mbappé stood beside Ronaldo after a visit to the Spanish club where his sporting hero was the star player.

In 2020, Mbappé posted on Twitter, now X, that Ronaldo was his “idol.”

And only a few months ago, Ronaldo reacted to Mbappé clinching a highly anticipated move to Madrid by writing on Instagram: “Excited to see you light up the Bernabeu.”

That Mbappé can now end Ronaldo’s European Championship career — who knows, it might even be his last ever major tournament — adds an intriguing subplot to a match that will be watched around the world.

“Let’s go, let’s go to war,” Ronaldo said of the match against France, whom he considers as the top contender at Euro 2024 along with Spain.

He said he was driven to tears against Slovenia not at the prospect of elimination but because his main motivation these days is “making people happy” and he had a penalty saved in extra time.

“I’m moved by all that football means — by the enthusiasm I have for the game, the enthusiasm for seeing my supporters, my family, the affection people have for me.

“It’s not about leaving the world of football. What else is there for me to do or win?”

Ronaldo heads into Friday’s game having failed to score in eight straight matches at major tournaments — Portugal’s last four at the 2022 World Cup and its four games at Euro 2024 — and with growing concerns about whether he deserves what appears to be a guaranteed spot in the team under Roberto Martinez.

Things haven’t been straightforward for Mbappé, either, at Euro 2024.

He sustained a broken nose in France’s group opener against Austria and has since been wearing a vision-limiting protective facemask during games. Mbappé has scored one goal and that was from the penalty spot against Poland – it’s the only goal scored by a France player at these Euros.

“He will have to get used to it,” France coach Didier Deschamps said of Mbappé and his mask, “because, to protect (his nose), he will have to wear it for a few weeks — or even a few months.”

Few would have predicted the top scorer at the last World Cup (Mbappé) and the record scorer in men’s international soccer (Ronaldo) to have just one goal between them heading into the quarterfinals.

But no one will be surprised if they come alive in Hamburg, with the pressure on and the occasion so big.

Mbappé, remember, scored a hat trick in the World Cup final and has been logging Ronaldo-esque scoring numbers in the first part of his career. He's already on 48 goals for France at the age of 25, and is also on 48 goals in the Champions League from 73 appearances.

He is chasing down Ronaldo's scoring records at both international (130) and Champions League (140) level and will likely only succeed by showing the same undimmed passion and desire as the player he used to copy as a kid.

As their countries' respective captains, they'll shake hands and embrace before kickoff. You can bet they'll do the same after the match.

By that time, one of them will be on his way home.

For Mbappé, there will surely be more European Championships down the road.

For Ronaldo, this could be the end of the road.

AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

FILE - Kylian Mbappe of France looks up during a round of sixteen match between France and Belgium at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappe is not just a clash of soccer icons but a clash of generations. They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday and their heavyweight meeting just got a little bit bigger after Ronaldo said this would be his last European Championship. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo prepares to kick a penalty during a round of sixteen match between Portugal and Slovenia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappe is not just a clash of soccer icons but a clash of generations. They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday and their heavyweight meeting just got a little bit bigger after Ronaldo said this would be his last European Championship. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

FILE -Kylian Mbappe of France, right, celebrates after scoring a penalty kick during a Group D match between the France and Poland at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappe is not just a clash of soccer icons but a clash of generations. They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday and their heavyweight meeting just got a little bit bigger after Ronaldo said this would be his last European Championship.(Friso Gentsch/dpa via AP, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo kisses the trophy at the end of the Euro 2016 final soccer match between Portugal and France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Sunday, July 10, 2016. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappe is not just a clash of soccer icons but a clash of generations. They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday and their heavyweight meeting just got a little bit bigger after Ronaldo said this would be his last European Championship. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

FILE - Kylian Mbappe of France during a Group D match between the France and Poland at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappé is not just a clash of soccer icons but a clash of generations. They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday and their heavyweight meeting just got a little bit bigger after Ronaldo said this would be his last European Championship. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo during a round of sixteen match between Portugal and Slovenia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappé is not just a clash of soccer icons but a clash of generations. They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday and their heavyweight meeting just got a little bit bigger after Ronaldo said this would be his last European Championship. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020 file photo France's Kylian Mbappe and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, right, greet each other before the Nations League soccer match between France and Portugal at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, France. Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappe is not just a clash of soccer icons but a clash of generations. They’ll go head to head when Portugal plays France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday and their heavyweight meeting just got a little bit bigger after Ronaldo said this would be his last European Championship. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that he is scrapping a controversial Conservative policy to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

“The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started,” Starmer said in his first news conference. “It’s never acted as a deterrent. Almost the opposite.”

The move was one of Starmer’s first acts in office, though it was widely expected. He had said during his campaign that he would ditch the plan that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but never taken flight.

Starmer made the announcement after holding his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing St., the day after his Labour Party’s landslide victory overturned 14 years of Conservative rule.

The Rwanda plan was one of the showcase policies of former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to try to curb migrants from making dangerous English Channel crossings.

But it was beset with challenges over human rights issues and never managed to deport a single person despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars in a pact with the east African nation.

Suella Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, was critical of Starmer’s anticipated plan to end the Rwanda deal.

“Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked,” she said Saturday before he made the announcement.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Keir Starmer held his first Cabinet meeting Saturday as his new government takes on the massive challenge of fixing a heap of domestic woes and winning over a public weary from years of austerity, political chaos and a battered economy.

Starmer welcomed the new ministers around the table at 10 Downing St., saying it had been the honor of his life to be asked by King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony that officially elevated him to prime minister.

“We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work,” he said.

Starmer’s Labour Party delivered the biggest blow to the Conservatives in their two-century history Friday in a landslide victory on a platform of change.

Among a raft of problems they face are boosting a sluggish economy, fixing a broken health care system, and restoring trust in government.

“Just because Labour won a big landslide doesn’t mean all the problems that the Conservative government has faced has gone away,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

In his first remarks as prime minister Friday after the meeting “kissing of hands” ceremony with Charles at Buckingham Palace, Starmer said he would get to work immediately, though he cautioned it would take some time to show results.,

“Changing a country is not like flicking a switch,” he said as enthusiastic supporters cheered him outside his new official residence at 10 Downing. “This will take a while. But have no doubt that the work of change begins — immediately.”

He will have a busy schedule following the six-week campaign crossing the four nations of the U.K.

He will travel to Washington next week for a NATO meeting and will host the European Political Community summit July 18, the day after the state opening of Parliament and the King's Speech, which sets out the new government's agenda.

Starmer singled out several of the big items Friday, such as fixing the revered but hobbled National Health Service and securing its borders, a reference a larger global problem across Europe and the U.S. of absorbing an influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty as well as drought, heat waves and floods attributed to climate change.

Conservatives struggled to contain the flow of migrants arriving across the English Channel, failing to live up to ex-Prime Minister’s Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats.”

Starmer has said he will scrap the Conservatives controversial plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The plan had cost hundreds of millions of pounds (dollars) without a single flight taking off.

“Labour is going to need to find a solution to the small boats coming across the channel,” Bale said. “It’s going to ditch the Rwanda scheme, but it’s going to have to come up with other solutions to deal with that particular problem.”

Suella Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, criticized Starmer's plan to end the Rwanda pact.

“Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked," she said Saturday. "There are big problems on the horizon which will be I’m afraid caused by Keir Starmer.”

Starmer's Cabinet is also getting to work.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy was to begin his first international trip Saturday to meet counterparts in Germany, Poland and Sweden to reinforce the importance of their relationship.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would open new negotiations next week with NHS doctors at the start of their career who have staged a series of multi-day strikes. The pay dispute has exacerbated the long wait for appointments that have become a hallmark of the NHS's problems.

FILE - Labour Party leader Keir Starmer smiles as he speaks to his supporters at the Tate Modern in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer outside 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024 after returning from seeing King Charles III where he was asked to form a government. Starmer's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory — but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)