By Kelly Allen
Kylian Mbappé comes from a family of athletes. The French player’s parents both have sports backgrounds.
Wilfrid Mbappé and Fayza Lamari welcomed their son, Kylian, in December 1998. The former couple share two other children: oldest son Jirès Kembo Ekoko, who was born in January 1988 and whom they later adopted, and their youngest son, Ethan, whom they welcomed in December 2006.
But sport runs in Kylian’s veins. Wilfrid is a former youth soccer coach for AS Bondy (Association Sportive de Bondy) in the Parisian suburb of Bondy, while Fayza is a former professional handball player.
Kylian joined AS Bondy’s youth team at 6 years old, per Britannica. Becoming a professional soccer player has been Kylian’s dream since he was a kid.
“[My dad] was coaching my big brother, and all the time, I went to the stadium and I was like, ‘Yeah I wanna do like them,’ ” Kylian told WSJ. Magazine in September 2022.
While Wilfrid and Fayza separated in 2021, they continue to support their children and work together to manage their sons’ professional soccer careers. They’ve both been spotted at the 2026 World Cup, where they’re cheering on Kylian and the French national team.
Here’s everything to know about Kylian Mbappé’s parents, Wilfrid Mbappé and Fayza Lamari.
Wilfrid and Fayza are from Cameroon and France, respectively
Wilfrid is originally from Cameroon, while Fayza is French of Algerian descent, according to Britannica.
In July 2023, Kylian visited his father’s native Cameroon for the first time, per Reuters.
“It’s an honor for me to be here in the country of my origin, to be with my family, to see the people there,” he said during a press conference in Yaoundé. “They show me some love … and I’m really grateful.”
Wilfrid and Fayza share a background in sports
For two decades, Wilfrid coached youth soccer at AS Bondy, a soccer club in the Parisian suburb of Bondy that’s famous for developing star players, including William Saliba, Jonathan Ikoné and more.
During the late 1990s, Fayza competed as a professional handball player in the French first division for the club in Bondy, per ESPN.
“She was a symbolic figure of the handball club of Bondy,” Jean-Louis Kimmoun, the club’s former president, told Le Parisien in 2017 (via The Athletic). “She grew up just opposite our playing hall and many of her brothers played for the club. On the court, she was a fighter and sometimes things got quite rough when she met her opponents. Many of them remember playing against Fayza.”
Fayza went on to be a coordinator in Bondy’s local recreation department, per The Athletic.
Wilfrid and Fayza were together for years before officially separating in 2021. Fayza confirmed the separation in an October 2021 interview with Le Parisien, saying (via Parents), “We separated several months ago, me and his father.”
Kylian has spoken up in support of his parents. “My parents’ divorce was in the press? Yes. My parents are adults. Was it exposed to everyone? Yes, it’s not normal at all. And then it was discussed on TV, on a regular talk show,” he said on the French talk show Clique (via Le 10 Sport) in March 2025. “It was a national divorce, a French divorce. My parents’ divorce is a French divorce.”
However, he clarified that after they separated, “both my parents are happy,” adding, “it ended well.”
Since their separation, the two have been spotted supporting their sons at soccer games and press conferences. Most recently, they’ve attended the 2026 World Cup games in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Wilfrid and Fayza share three children
Wilfrid and Fayza welcomed Kylian on Dec. 20, 1998, and Ethan on Dec. 29, 2006. Their oldest son, Jirès, was born on Jan. 8, 1988, in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and later adopted by the family.
All three brothers are soccer players. Jirès played for several soccer teams throughout his career, including the French soccer team Stade Rennais and Dubai’s Al-Nasr team. He last played for the Turkish soccer club Bursaspor in 2019.
Kylian and Ethan played for the soccer team Paris Saint-Germain together for one season when Kylian was 25 years old and Ethan was 16 years old. Ethan now plays soccer for Ligue 1’s Lille Olympique Sporting Club.
They help run their son’s firm
Wilfrid acts as a soccer advisor to Kylian, according to The Athletic. Meanwhile, his mom, Fayza, handles his contract negotiations and is the president of his company Interconnected Ventures — formerly KEWJF, standing for Kylian, Ethan, Wilfrid, Jirès and Fayza, per the outlet.
The company handles all of Kylian’s commercial and marketing arrangements, in addition to other investments.
“The Mbappe project is first and foremost a family project led by his mother and father,” Delphine Guegan, the family’s professional advisor, told The Athletic. “During Mbappe’s first professional season, the entourage was structured and gradually professionalised. It has become a small, attentive and benevolent family business, lucid about the world of soccer and its shortcomings.”
In July 2024, the investment group landed a majority stake in the Ligue 2 club Caen, per CBS Sports.
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