Kylian Mbappé: Chasing History and Rivalry with Messi

Kylian Mbappé has spent this tournament playing like a man chasing ghosts and history at the same time.

France arrived with the weight of expectation strapped to their backs, billed as favourites because of the sheer firepower at Didier Deschamps’ disposal. So far, they have carried that load with a swagger. Mbappé has been the headline act, but the supporting cast of Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola has turned Les Bleus into a rotating storm of pace and invention.

The numbers underline it. Mbappé is now his country’s all-time leading scorer, out on his own with 63 goals. Seven of those have come in just five games at this tournament, a haul that has hurled him straight back into a familiar duel with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot.

Different continent. Different competition. Same rivalry.

The bracket offers a tantalising possibility. France and Argentina, the heavyweights of Europe and South America, are marching through opposite sides of the draw. If they keep their nerve, they could collide again on the outskirts of New York, another World Cup final, another chapter in a story that already feels mythical.

You sense Mbappé wants that. Needs it, even.

He would relish the chance to stare down Messi again, this time as a Real Madrid ‘Galactico’ rather than a Paris Saint-Germain prodigy in his shadow. The mission is clear: become a two-time world champion and, in the process, deny Messi the same rarefied status. It is sporting ambition wrapped in something more personal.

France’s route has not been flawless, but they have looked largely untroubled in their hunt for another star on the shirt. The exception came in an emotionally charged last-16 tie against Paraguay, where it took a Mbappé penalty to separate the sides. Argentina, for their part, were dragged to the edge by Egypt in a wild five-goal contest that they somehow survived.

Both giants still have serious work to do before any reunion can be inked into the calendar. Yet the idea lingers over the tournament: Mbappé, charging towards Messi’s crown, refusing to let that 2022 final be the last word.

Louis Saha sees it clearly. Speaking to GOAL, the former France striker did not hesitate when asked if revenge is part of Mbappé’s fuel.

“Definitely,” he said, pointing to a unity in this France side that reminds him of 2006, when Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira dragged a veteran group to the brink of glory. Back then, the message inside the camp was simple: leave everything on the pitch. Saha sees the same edge now, only this time in players barely touching their peak.

“They are 25, 27 and they have that sense of creating history,” he noted. They are playing well. They are enjoying it. And they know exactly what is at stake.

Saha also draws a line to the new identity at PSG. A team that, in his eyes, has become more solid, more coherent, without losing its ability to entertain. Fast football. Confident midfielders dictating the tempo. A side that plays with assurance rather than ego.

“I am very impressed,” he admitted. Twice. Because for him, Mbappé embodies all of it – the speed, the ruthlessness, the hunger to turn potential into a legacy that cannot be argued with.

This, Saha believes, is where the idea of revenge becomes something bigger than a single match. Mbappé and a core group of French players have lived the full arc: triumph in 2018, heartbreak in 2022, now another charge at immortality. They have climbed to the summit, slipped, and started again.

“There are a few players who have been there, done really well in 2018, done really well in 2022, but missed this last step,” Saha said. That near-miss has carved a scar into this generation, and scars can harden a team in ways talent alone never will.

Look at the trajectory under Deschamps. Final after final, deep run after deep run. For Saha, it is “unbelievable”. For Mbappé, it is not enough.

The stage is set. The goals are flowing. The old rival waits somewhere in the distance. How many more chances will this France side get to finish the story on their own terms?