Kylian Mbappe risks Pepsi wrath after copying Ronaldo

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FT Desk

Kylian Mbappe, like Cristiano Ronaldo, is seemingly not a fan of sugary beverages.

The World Cup winner took part in a press conference on Monday ahead of Real Madrid's first Champions League game of the season versus Inter at the Bernabeu.

As he sat down, he was confronted with a bottle of Gatorade. He quickly moved the bottle under the desk before taking questions from the journalists in attendance.

PepsiCo bought the Gatorade brand in 2001 when it acquired The Quaker Oats Company for $13 billion.

The moment echoed a similar situation with Cristiano Ronaldo five years ago.

😳 ¡Mbappé retira la bebida energetica de la rueda de prensa igual que lo hizo Cristiano con Portugal! pic.twitter.com/6npm3eZYTr

— Diario AS (@diarioas) September 7, 2026

Ahead of Portugal's first match of the European Championship with Germany in 2021, Ronaldo was speaking at a press conference when he sat down, took the bottle of Coca-Cola away, and replaced it with a bottle of water.

He would then would "Agua!" (Portuguese for water) at the journalists in attendance before continuing with the press conference.

Some reports indicated a $4 billion loss of market value for the soft drink giant after that happened, though those reports turned out to be bogus.

In reality, Coca-Cola's share price had already taken a dip in the market that day before Ronaldo's press conference had even begun.

The Portuguese superstar had taken a swipe at the popular drink in the past, previously revealing he gets "pissed" at his son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr for drinking Coca-Cola and Fanta.

"I'm hard with him sometimes because he drinks Coca-Cola and Fanta sometimes and I'm pissed with him," he said at the 2020 Globe Soccer Awards when asked about his son potentially becoming a professional footballer.

"I fight with him when he eats chips and fries and everything; he knows I don't like it.

After Paul Pogba removed a Heineken bottle from the front of the table at a subsequent press conference, UEFA were forced to release a statement asking players to not interfere with any sponsor-related items when speaking to the media.

Mbappe, clearly, has not adhered to that request.