Few similarities can be found in the way in which Argentina and France have sealed their pass to the final, much more placid in the case of the South American team; hellish character for the current champion. The ‘bleus’ suffered a lot until Kolo Muani received the assistance of Mbappe in the second goal. Only then were they released. The genius of the French ten, with two cuts inside the area and a shot that turned into a pass to his teammate, lead him to the expected duel with Leo Messi in the grand finale A generational clash with overtones of a boxing epic between the great champion, already in retirement, and the aspirant to succeed him on the throne.
It happens that the applicant already has a World Cup, achieved with just 19 years in Russia, while the supposed champion has been pursuing it vigorously for more than fifteen years. The emotional balance falls on Messi’s side, who also reaches the last game with better feelings.
Because Mbappé, beyond that last assist, left another game with doubts about his performance. What was no more than a simple bad game against England continued in the semifinal. The French star has lost the brilliance and forcefulness with which he began the championship, which contrasts with the step forward taken by Messi after the fiasco that led to the defeat in his debut.
Mbappé relies on a monstrous team, in which if he is not there there are enough resources to survive, but his contest seems essential in the decisive match. At least, as much as in the journey that has led them to it.
The Frenchman started the World Cup with a goal and an assist against Australia, followed it up with a brace against Denmark. He was rested in the loss to Tunisia, in which he only had 27 minutes. But he returned in full force in the round of 16 against Poland. Two more goals and another assist to seal his best game so far. With the downturn, a more solitary and failing Mbappé has been observed. Against Morocco he tried, but it was far from the effectiveness of other matches. His were the first two shots on goal, in which he smashed the ball into the defense before Theo Hernández opened the scoring. That goal also ended the best data for the North Africans in the tournament, who until then had only conceded one goal, and also an own goal.
Very attached to the band, Mbappé crossed paths on several occasions with Achraf, a friend and teammate from PSG. Also with Dari, emergency center back in the Moroccan eleven due to the last minute absence of Aguerd. Not even the fact that the rival defense was worse than ever served. Past the average, and after receiving a great pass filtered by TchouaméniMbappé crashed his shot into El Yamiq’s body again before Giroud pardoned France’s second.
Mbappé caused one of the images of the day after approaching the stands before the start of the game to inquire about the state of a fan who had received a painful blow to the face from the French star during the warm-up. Perhaps he already presaged that it was not going to be an easy game for him.
Like his teammates, he also had to face the fieryness and drive with which Morocco managed to put France on the ropes for many minutes in the second half. The ten Frenchman complained about the harshness of Dari and Amrabat in separate actions in which he ended up with a sore ankle. With Giroud’s departure from the field, he moved to the position of nine. He gained presence, but continued just as unwise in front of the goal.
Messi y Mbappe they will reach the final in Lusail evenly on the top scorers’ table. Both add up to five, although three of those scored by the Argentine were from the penalty spot.
