Kylian Mbappé just did something absurd. The French striker scored his 20th goal in just 20 World Cup matches on July 9, giving France the lead against Morocco in the 2026 tournament. One goal per game across three World Cups is the kind of stat that makes you double-check the math.
But this isn’t just a sports story. Within hours of the ball hitting the net, unauthorized Solana-based meme tokens bearing Mbappé’s name saw significant trading volume spikes. Sorare NFT cards featuring the striker also saw renewed interest.
The meme token machine turns on
Since the 2026 World Cup kicked off in June, unauthorized Solana meme tokens linked to the French forward have experienced trading volume surges that correlate directly with his on-field performances. None of these tokens carry any formal affiliation with Mbappé, the French Football Federation, or FIFA.
In early 2024, Mbappé’s X account was hacked, and the compromised account promoted a fraudulent Solana token. That token briefly rocketed to a market cap of $464 million before collapsing entirely.