CHANGING OF THE GUARD

KAZAN and July 1, 2018 may be remembered in equal measure as symbols of world football’s changing of the guard.

With the eyes of the world on Lionel Messi, it was Kylian Mbappe, 19, who stole the spotlight to transition from teen super-talent to France’s big-game hunter, destroying Argentina with a potent mix of speed and killer finishing.

And on the same day Mbappe inspired a youthful France to a famous 4-3 win, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal was eliminated from the World Cup.

Edinson Cavani’s stunning 62nd-minute strike moments after Peper’s equaliser secured a deserved 2-1 win over Portugal, setting up a Uruguay-France quarter-final in Nizhny on Saturday (AEST). Uruguay will be sweating on the fitness of Cavani, who scored the other goal, after he limped off with a hamstring issue.

Cavani’s PSG teammate Mbappe has a long way to go before he reaches the duo’s lofty heights, but the ease with which he has assumed responsibility in a Les Bleus side featuring Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Olivier Giroud, N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) and Paul Pogba (Manchester United) smacks of a player who will relish superstardom.

He is the first teenager since Pele in 1958 — he was 17 — to score twice in a World Cup game. Messi and Mbappe shared an embrace in the middle of the Kazan Arena pitch after the final whistle.

While Messi, who turned 31 a week ago, refused to speak to the media after the match, a smiling Mbappe was savouring the moment. “I’m very happy and it’s flattering to be compared to a great player like Pele. But he’s in another category,” Mbappe said.

Mbappe’s stunning 60m burst sent Argentina’s defence into panic, as he was brought down for a penalty, which Griezmann converted, before two superb finishes decided the match.

Mbappe appears capable of taking France all the way, though Luis Suarez and his mob may have something to say about that.