It was never part of the plan for Didier Deschamps to unveil a gambler’s instinct. France’s manager reads from a pragmatic playbook. When he was putting the finishing touches to his tactical preparations for this contest, Deschamps never could have imagined that Kylian Mbappé would have been standing over a penalty with two minutes of extra-time remaining, readying himself to rescue France for a second time and become the first player to score a hat-trick in a men’s World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966.
Everything had spiralled out of control, Argentina’s emotion trumping French cool. Caution? Organisation? Waiting for moments to strike on the break? Forget it. Lionel Messi had given Argentina a 3-2 lead and France needed something extraordinary.
