As two global superstars at the opposite ends of careers which could go down as two of the finest in football history, fans have never had the pleasure of seeing Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappe on the same team.
Had the latter had his way, though, they'd both be strutting their stuff for Paris Saint-Germain by now. Ahead of France and Poland's round-of-16 clash at the World Cup on Sunday, a story has emerged claiming that Mbappe met with Lewandowski in a bid to convince him to join PSG earlier this year.
According to French newspaper Le Parisien, the 23-year-old forward sat down with the Polish striker in Cannes on May 26, just a few days before the Monaco Grand Prix, which Lewandowski attended while he engineered a departure from Bayern Munich. Ultimately, the 34-year-old decided to sign for Barcelona, leaving Mbappe - who hasn't hidden his desire to play alongside a recognised No.9 like Lewandowski in Paris - bitterly disappointed shortly after committing his future to the Ligue 1 giants on a hugely-lucrative new deal.
Barcelona's relegation to the Europa League this season means that it'll be at least a short while until we see Mbappe and Lewandowski battling it out at club level, but the World Cup has paired their nations together for a mismatched last-16 tie. Reigning champions France breezed through the group stage, allowing manager Didier Deschamps to heavily rotate his starting XI for their final game against Tunisia on Wednesday, which ended in a surprise 1-0 loss.
Poland, meanwhile, scraped through to the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time in 36 years that same night, progressing on goal difference despite a 2-0 defeat by Argentina. After fending off Lionel Messi, much thanks to goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny's heroics, boss Czeslaw Michniewicz is plotting to prevent Mbappe from adding to his tournament tally of three goals and one assist.
For Deschamps, his task will be to stop Poland's supply line to Lewandowski after labelling him as one of the best No.9s on the planet. "He is an important part of this team," the World Cup-winning manager said of the former Borussia Dortmund star. "But there is still the collective, and a team that enjoys defending and suffering. Lewandowski can make the difference at any moment."
Have your say! Who'll go through - France or Poland? Give us your score prediction in the comments section.
Michniewicz won't be deviating from his conservative approach which Deschamps alluded to, despite criticism from disgruntled pundits and unhappy fans in Poland. "The ones that weren't playing defensively at the World Cup are back home watching on TV. Now we're out of the group phase, so we will change our plans," Michniewicz quipped.
"You win or you go home, the stakes are high. We were dreaming of getting out of the group stage, we did everything possible to achieve that.
"December 4 is a holiday for miners in Poland, so we will do our best to celebrate that holiday. We aren't afraid of France, we respect our opponents, we respect their class. But we don't care about others' opinions of our team."
