The noise was deafening, and with each step it got louder. The French players who trod the lonely walk to the penalty spot were met by a wall of whistles and boos from Argentina’s fans, and yet it added up to more than that: this was an animalistic howl of a noise, a piercing shriek which compelled them to take notice, to feel the fury in the air.
Kylian Mbappe did his best to ignore it – he had scored two penalties and a hat-trick already and he wasn’t about to miss now. 1-0. It rained down on Kingsley Coman like a storm, and it didn’t stop until he was repelled by the hands of Emi Martinez. 1-1. Then came Aurelien Tchouameni, and your stomach tightened for a 22-year-old in his first World Cup, because there was no sympathy where he was going.
