It’s Lionel Messi’s day, it’s Lionel Messi’s World Cup, but for more than a moment it looked to have been Kylian Mbappe’s. There is no debate that the Lusail Stadium has staged the greatest World Cup final in history and while the outcome was determined and decided by its biggest names it was a match where its momentum and very spirit was shaken and influenced by so much more.
The illusion is thinking there was order to the chaos. At first it was Angel Di Maria and a masterstroke from Lionel Scaloni. And then it was Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram, thrown on out of desperation by Didier Deschamps. Argentina had been inspired but France responded. Then, when France had control of the World Cup and sensed history, Argentina found Emiliano Martinez and, from nowhere, Gonzalo Montiel.
