Mbappe m ak es the French team his own
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t just 23 years old, Kylian Mbappe has alreadyenjoyed some stellar career highlights, big moments that compare to, and even surpass, the achievements of football’s all-time greats. Important goals in the UEFA Champions League, starring for France at the 2018 FIFA World Cup as a teenager, breaking records at Paris Saint-Germain and now cementing his status as the world’s best player on the world’s biggest stage. Whether he made a mistake byrejecting Real Madrid, whether his attitude sometimes divides opinion, there is no footballer around todaywith the capabilities of France’s golden child, and he is onlygoing to get better. Isn’t that scary? Soccer Laduma’s international team takes a closer look.
Bigger World Cup legacy than Ronaldo and Messi
In 2018, when Les Bleus lifted the prestigious World Cup trophy, Kylian Mbappe’s performances throughout the tournament saw his stock rise. Everyone who’d seen him play quickly understood his special potential, particularly as his match-winning displays were produced in a competition that is still in many ways considered the sport’s most significant, most beautiful stage. There’s an argument that UEFA Champions League football is football in its most competitive form, but the international stage still boasts an incomparable allure. Managers needing to work with what they’ve got, players fighting for their countries, various club fan bases holding hands for a brief moment to unite nations. In Russia four years ago, Mbappe, although tipped to have an incredible career at the time, was just a piece of a spectacular puzzle. France, in 2018, were the best team heading into the tournament and were able to live up to expectations due to the strength of the collective. This time out, Les Bleus’ injury-riddled squad didn’t arrive in Qatar with the same reputation.
Mbappe, though, has changed the conversation almost single-handedly even if the odds still aren’t in his favour. Only two nations have ever won back-to-back World Cups after Italy claimed two consecutive champions trophies in 1934 and 1938, and Brazil in 1958 and 1962, but Mbappe has a thing for history. In their 3-1 victory over Poland in the Round of 16 this past weekend, the former Monaco prodigy broke a record held by a certain Pele as he became the player with the most goals scored in the World Cup before the age of 24. Previously, Brazil’s icon sat atop the standing with seven. Mbappe, who will turn 24 years old two days after the tournament in the Middle East finishes, already has nine overall after adding five since the start of this year’s edition. There’s an inevitability to Mbappe, one that has been around since before he became the world’s most expensive teenager in history with his switch from Monaco to PSG. Just when it appears impossible to imagine another footballer consistently delivering like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have, the 23-year-old shows up with big-match performances, mimicking those greats that came before him by coming alive in moments that ultimately decide the result. Against Poland, Deschamps’ side were far from their best and perhaps might have gone behind in the first half if not for some terrific goalline clearances, but Mbappe produced special, tournament-defining individual moments to inspire his compatriots to a place in the quarter-finals with excellent finishes from areas most attackers wouldn’t shoot from. The quick drop of his shoulder and his clean ball-striking is reminiscent of his idol Ronaldo, but his output on football’s biggest stage already far exceeds his legacy. In just nine World Cup matches, Ronaldo is just one of the many high-profile players to have already been outscored by Mbappe, who has netted in two tournaments as many times as Messi has in five, proving the Parisian-born forward is worth every bit of the hype that surrounds him.
Can England stop the world cham pions?
With three World Cup titles between the two European giant nations and a combined squad value of €2.9 billion (R41 billion), the star-studded quarter-final match between England and France looks set to be the most anticipated clash of the tournament so far. Both teams are blessed with genuinely top-class attackers, deeper gears and real strength in depth coupled with managers whose systems have given them a unique blend of balance and efficiency. This clash represents a new challenge for Gareth Southgate’s side as they enter their first match in this competition as the underdogs. Despite England having a great record of 17 wins, five draws and just nine defeats from their 31 meetings against Les Bleus, they will have their work cut out if they want to extend their impressive run. Mbappe is likely to have a say in this fixture after putting on an irresistible display of pace, power and precision so far in this tournament alongside Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele. Behind the fast-breaking attack, France have a combative midfield with Adrien Rabiot pulling the strings and a steady defence led by Manchester United’s Raphael Varane. However, Deschamps will be aware of the threat that England possesses as Harry Kane scored a brace in their last meeting in June 2017, where France secured a 3-2 win. The Tottenham Hotspur star has not been as prolific in front of goal as expected for the Three Lions in the 2022 World Cup, but he sits at the top of the charts for the most assists, with three in four games. Southgate’s side are not shy of talent as they too carry a plethora of weapons in their arsenal, with Jude Bellingham breaking numerous records as his most recent came against Senegal in the Round of 16 when he achieved the feat of becoming the first teenager to record an assist in the knockout stages of a World Cup. ❐