It is a picture that jolts you. Drained, disappointed, distraught. Kylian Mbappe sitting in the France dugout after the end of the World Cup final against Argentina, numb to everything around him, just staring into nothingness. Around him, the Argentinians going absolutely bonkers — on the field and in the stands. Then he pulled his number 10 jersey over his head. Perhaps he shed a tear, maybe two. To lose in a final is cruel… to come so close to winning it all and losing is crueler still.
Here was a guy who had become only the second man since Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat-trick in the World Cup; here was a guy who had helped France draw level not once but twice in a final that can only be described as manic but what did he now have to show for his efforts? He could have been a two-time world champion at 23 but now he’ll have to wait for another crack. For how long?
It was a night that many of us, fans of football, Argentina and Messi, will never forget but conversely, it is one that Mbappe would like to bury deep into his subconscious — never to see the light of day again. That won’t be easy, for no matter where he goes, there will be ready reminders. Cruel, did you say?
“We had a chance to win the World Cup in the last minute but it wasn’t to be,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “At 2-0 there would not have been the same regrets, you just say ‘bravo’ to them.
“I don’t want to take any merit away from Argentina but there were lots and lots of emotions and it was cruel at the end because we were so close.”
And few will get that more than Mbappe, France’s hero in defeat. For 60 minutes, France were dominated, their talisman was a mere spectator and the defending champions looked like a shadow of the team that waltzed its way into the final and made light of injuries and illness. But then as Deschamps rung in the changes, something clicked.
Mbappe took his first shot at goal in the 71st minute and then 10 minutes later, he had two goals in his pocket. France were level and suddenly, Argentina were desperate. Messi put them ahead again and Mbappe got the equaliser again. Two superstars, two teammates, two rivals… going at it like there was no tomorrow. For once, there really wasn’t.
And that is why they both had to put it all on the line.
Throughout the tournament, Mbappe showed that he is special. At 19, his potential was unfathomable. At 23, he’s become even better. What will he be in four years’ time? His pace is electric and even though he sometimes seems invisible on the field, he is impossible to ignore when he finally lights up.
If the World Cup showed that Cristiano Ronaldo’s era is coming to an end and that Messi, at 35, needs to pick his moments, then Mbappe’s showing proved that he was going to be the player to watch in the years to come. 2018 wasn’t a false dawn. He hasn’t faded away. Few players command your attention the way he does and that alone makes him stand out in a world where there are so many who seem to fit a common template.
The defeat will be hard to bear but France will hope that Mbappe emerges stronger. They will hope that the loss will drive him forward just as the victory four years earlier did. But most of all, they will hope that the result doesn’t change him. That he remains the guy who will charge forward with nothing but the goal on his mind.
