France are through to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup. The European giants came from behind to win 4-3 against Argentina. French wonderkid Kylian Mbappe stole the show as he showed the world why PSG made him the second most expensive footballer in history last year. The French attacker won a penalty and scored two very good goals. The defeat may mean that Lionel Messi will never lift the World Cup trophy.
France take the lead early
France took the lead following a magnificent run from Kylian Mbappe which lead to a penalty. Argentina legend Diego Maradona was in attendance and the manner in which the PSG attacker glided through the Argentina side, was reminiscent of his famous goal against England in the 1986 Mexican World Cup. Kylian Mbappe did not finish the move himself, however, he was essentially assaulted by Manchester United centre-back Marcus Rojo to give away a penalty. Antoine Greizmann cooly slotted away the resulting penalty to give France an early lead.
Argentina revival
Argentina equalised shortly before halftime. Following an Argentine throw-in, the ball fell to Angel Di Maria, who was unmarked outside and his shot from over 30 yards out flew past French captain Hugo Lloris. Argentina then took a shock lead after halftime. An Argentina free-kick was only cleared as far as Messi. The attacker’s shot took a massive deflection off Argentina full-back, Gabriel Mercado. Lloris had reacted to Messi’s initial strike and dived that way, but the deflection took it in the opposite direction. The Spurs man could only watch helplessly as the ball trickled over the line.
The Kylian Mbappe show
France equalised 9 minutes later in the 57th minute. Hernandez’s cross was cleared only as far as French defender Benjamin Pavard. Considering the amount of talent in the French squad, it came as a shock that a fullback came up with an absolute wonder strike at the edge of the Argentine box. After Pavard’s equaliser, it became the Kylian Mbappe show. In the 64th minute, the youngster latched onto a loose ball in the box following a goalmouth scramble to calmly fire home.
Four minutes later he slotted in to make it 4-2. He got on the end of a rapid French counter-attack after being slotted through by Olivier Giroud. Mbappe’s second ended the game as a contest and sent Argentina back to Buenos Aires in tears. A late Sergio Aguero strike gave the South American’s a glimmer of hope but it was too little to late. France will now face either Portugal or Uruguay in the quarterfinals.
Mbappe heir to Messi’s throne?
The Barcelona star is often heralded as the greatest footballer in history. His critics at home in Argentina and abroad often use the lack of an international trophy with Argentina, as an argument against this title. Based on today’s evidence, Messi may have a potential rival to that throne. 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe put in a World Class display and if France are to win the competition, he will play a major part and may enter the greatest ever discussion while he is still a teenager.
France will now face the winner of Portugal or Uruguay their quarter-final tie.
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