Kylian Mbappé Chases History Against Lionel Messi
Kylian Mbappé is chasing history again, and this time the target is unmistakable: Lionel Messi.
France arrived at this tournament with the weight of expectation and the luxury of options. Les Bleus are stacked with attacking talent – Mbappé flanked by Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola – and they have largely played like a side comfortable with the burden of being favourites. The football has been fast, bold, ruthless in moments.
Mbappé, now his country’s all-time leading scorer with 63 goals, has hit seven in five games. Those numbers drag him straight back into familiar territory: a Golden Boot race with Messi, the Argentine who continues to shadow and shape his era.
Their duel, seemingly settled in Qatar, refuses to die.
A possible sequel in New York
The bracket offers a tantalising prospect. France and Argentina, European and South American giants, are advancing on opposite sides of the draw. The route is long and dangerous, but the possibility hangs there: another World Cup final, another Mbappé–Messi showdown, this time on the outskirts of New York.
Mbappé would embrace it. He wants a second World Cup winner’s medal. He wants to stand alone where Messi cannot. Denying an all-time great the same double would only sharpen the edge of his own legacy.
France’s path has not been entirely serene, but they have handled most assignments with a degree of control. The exception came in an emotionally charged last-16 clash with Paraguay, where a single Mbappé penalty separated the sides. Argentina, by contrast, flirted with disaster. They needed all their resilience and attacking brilliance to survive Egypt in a wild five-goal thriller at the same stage.
The stakes rise from here. So do the tests. Any talk of a reunion remains hypothetical, but the sense that Mbappé is hunting Messi’s crown – both symbolically and statistically – refuses to fade.
Saha sees a different France
Louis Saha recognises the look in this French team’s eyes.
Asked whether Mbappé, now 27, is driven by a sense of revenge with Messi looming as the ultimate rival, the former France striker did not hesitate when speaking to GOAL, via Freebets.com.
“Definitely,” he said.
Saha sees something deeper than individual ambition. He sees a collective edge that reminds him of 2006, when he shared a dressing room with Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira and a group of veterans chasing one last shot at immortality.
“I remember it when I was with the team in 2006, with [Zinedine] Zidane and [Patrick] Vieira, all those players, they were at the end of this road. So they had that mindset of, ‘OK, leave everything on the pitch’. And those guys are doing it. They are 25, 27 and they have that sense of creating history, they're playing well, they're having fun.”
This France, Saha argues, carries that same relentlessness, but with a different energy. Younger, looser, yet no less serious about what is at stake.
Fast football, hard edge
Saha draws a striking parallel with Paris Saint-Germain’s recent evolution.
“It's an inspiration and it's a kind of, this is my feeling, the same spirit that PSG has got in the last two years. They are very solid, but at the same time, they are entertaining. They're playing fast football. They have this confidence in midfield where they maintain the tempo. I am very impressed.”
France’s midfield has become the metronome of this side, controlling games so the forwards can attack without fear. Mbappé sits at the heart of that identity, the symbol of a team that wants to dominate, not simply survive.
“I am very impressed and Kylian Mbappe definitely represents that,” Saha continued. “So this revenge comes with history and there are a few players who have been there, done really well in 2018, done really well in 2022, but missed this last step. It's unbelievable when you look at this trajectory and journey from the Didier Deschamps team, it's unbelievable.”
Deschamps’ France have reached finals, lifted trophies, and lived through heartbreak. The arc is long and heavy with experience. For some, this might be the last chance to correct what slipped away in 2022.
For Mbappé, it is something else again: a chance to turn a personal rivalry into a defining chapter of football history. If fate brings Messi back into his path in New York, will this be the night the balance finally tips his way?
