Kylian Mbappé Chases History and Messi at World Cup

Kylian Mbappé has been here before. The world watching, the stakes absurdly high, the weight of a nation on his shoulders – and still he looks like a man chasing something only he can see.

This time, it’s history. And Lionel Messi.

Les Bleus arrived at this tournament with the label no manager truly wants: favourites. On paper, the squad is outrageous. On grass, they’ve largely played like it. Mbappé has been the spearhead, flanked by Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola in an attack that looks less like a forward line and more like a relay team built for chaos.

The numbers back up the feeling. Mbappé has already rewritten one chapter of French football, moving clear as his country’s all-time leading scorer with 63 goals. Seven of those have come in just five games at this World Cup, a strike rate that has dragged him straight back into familiar territory: a Golden Boot race with Messi.

The two modern giants are again marching through opposite sides of the draw, Europe on one half, South America on the other, the scriptwriters quietly licking their lips. A repeat of their epic showdown, this time on the outskirts of New York, is no longer a fantasy. It’s a very real possibility.

Mbappé would relish it. Another duel with his former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate. Another chance to tilt the balance of their rivalry. Another opportunity to become a two-time World Cup winner while denying Messi the same status.

France have not cruised, but they have controlled. Their route has carried the usual moments of jeopardy, none more intense than the last-16 clash with Paraguay, when the entire contest hinged on a single Mbappé penalty in a tie thick with emotion and tension. Argentina, for their part, flirted with disaster against Egypt, dragged into a wild five-goal thriller before somehow clawing their way out.

Both giants know the real landmines still lie ahead. The bracket is unforgiving, the margins getting thinner by the day. Any talk of a reunion is still just that – talk. Yet the sense persists that Mbappé is hunting something beyond the trophy, beyond the Golden Boot. He wants Messi’s crown.

Former France international Louis Saha sees it clearly. Speaking to GOAL on behalf of Freebets.com, he didn’t hesitate when asked whether revenge – in the pure sporting sense – is fuelling Mbappé.

“Definitely,” Saha said. “The way I see it, there is a kind of solidarity that I haven't seen in this French team for quite a while.”

He knows what that looks like. He lived it.

“I remember it when I was with the team in 2006, with [Zinedine] Zidane and [Patrick] Vieira, all those players, they were at the end of this road. So they had that mindset of, ‘OK, leave everything on the pitch’. And those guys are doing it. They are 25, 27 and they have that sense of creating history, they're playing well, they're having fun.”

This is not a France side weighed down by expectation. It’s one energised by it. Saha sees echoes of something else too – the club environment Mbappé has just left behind.

“It's an inspiration and it's a kind of, this is my feeling, the same spirit that PSG has got in the last two years. They are very solid, but at the same time, they are entertaining. They're playing fast football. They have this confidence in midfield where they maintain the tempo. I am very impressed.

“I am very impressed and Kylian Mbappe definitely represents that.”

There is, Saha suggests, a sense of unfinished business running through this group. The revenge he talks about isn’t just about Messi, or the last final, or one night in Lusail. It’s about a core of players who have climbed the mountain twice and still feel they haven’t quite touched the summit.

“This revenge comes with history,” he said. “There are a few players who have been there, done really well in 2018, done really well in 2022, but missed this last step. It's unbelievable when you look at this trajectory and journey from the Didier Deschamps team, it's unbelievable.”

From Moscow to Qatar and now to the United States, Deschamps’ France have become a machine built for tournament football, endlessly regenerating around a constant: Mbappé, charging towards greatness, with Messi’s shadow never far from view.

If the draw allows it, if both giants keep their nerve, one more chapter awaits.