KAZAN: Teenager Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in four minutes to send a youthful France charging into the World Cup quarter-finals and Lionel Messi home with a thrilling 4-3 win over Argentina at the Kazan Arena yesterday.
The 19-year-old forward’s electric pace caused Argentina problems all afternoon and his twin strikes helped France overturn a 2-1 deficit to set up a last eight meeting with Uruguay who beat Portugal 2-1 later yesterday.
“It’s very rewarding because of what was at stake in this particular match,” French coach Didier Deschamps said of the performance of his team. “On the other side there were a lot of highly experienced players that we handled pretty well ... I’ve learnt a lot (and) the team has showed what it could do.”
Messi provided assists for two goals but the 31-year-old was otherwise subdued in the “false nine” role and his fourth, and possibly final, crack at winning the World Cup was destined to end in disappointment.
While Mbappe was the most influential player on the pitch, Argentina’s Angel Di Maria and France full back Benjamin Pavard fought out a private contest for the best goal of the match with two magnificent long-range strikes.
Di Maria’s goal cancelled out Antoine Griezmann’s early penalty to equalise for Argentina just before the break while Pavard’s in the 57th minute levelled the scores at 2-2 after Argentina had edged ahead through Gabriel Mercado.
Mbappe, the first teenager since Brazilian great Pele in the 1958 final to score two goals in one World Cup match, then took over to send Argentina slumping out of the finals before the quarter-finals for the first time since 2002.
“It’s flattering to be the second one after Pele, but we must keep it in context,” Mbappe said. “In a World Cup you have all the top level players, it’s an opportunity to show what your abilities are, there is no better place than a World Cup.”
Twice champions Argentina got a consolation through substitute striker Sergio Aguero in added time but they were simply unable to cope with Mbappe’s pace from his first surge towards the box after nine minutes. Javier Mascherano brought him down and Griezmann crashed the subsequent free kick off the bar from 25 metres but France only had to wait a couple of minutes to open the scoring.
Mbappe set off on a driving run from well inside his own half and Marcos Rojo, well beaten for pace, bundled him to the deck inside the area. Griezmann’s strike from the spot was not as clean as his free kick but goalkeeper Franco Armani went the wrong way and the Frenchman converted his second penalty of tournament.
Argentina looked shell-shocked at Mbappe’s early onslaught but Jorge Sampaoli’s side were full of big match experience and four minutes before the break they were level.