The 2022 World Cup final in Qatar was perhaps the most dramatic climax in the tournament’s storied history.
It was a match packed with momentum swings and individual brilliance, as Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi were the headliners, accounting for five of the six goals before the South Americans dethroned the defending champions on penalties.
Mbappe became the second player to net a World Cup final hat-trick when he dragged his side back from the brink to force extra time, before his side fell agonisingly short.
Leboeuf on Mbappe’s 2022 eruption
For Frank Leboeuf, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, Mbappe’s late surge, which saw him score 80th and 81st minute goals to force extra time, remains as extraordinary as it was bewildering.
“We didn’t play for 75 minutes,” Leboeuf tells FourFourTwo. “That was when Kylian decided to show up.”
At this stage, France were 2-0 down following first-half strikes from Messi and Angel Di Maria, a showing that Leboeuf believes flicked a switch in Mbappe’s mind.
“Our performance until that stage had clearly made him angry, and suddenly you saw this explosion,” he adds.
This was then the set-up to create the narrative of which this final will forever be remembered.
“You saw how difficult it is to contain a player with his ability for 90 minutes. It became the Mbappe vs Messi final.”
Former Chelsea defender Leboeuf is convinced that without Mbappe’s intervention, the final would have done and dusted early doors.
“We almost won that final – it would have been almost entirely thanks to Kylian.”
And for Leboeuf, it is this quality that separates the very good from the very best.
“The greatest players save their best for the biggest stage,” he adds. “Stages don’t come any bigger.”
