Messi, Mbappé and the other final: the star who is already a legend against crack who does everything to inherit his throne

In the world of luxury, the last is the best: a final Argentina–Francetwo world champions, one against one between Messi eternal and the Mbappé that unites the present with the future.​

It is about the continuity of football history, the reign of Messi that can be inherited by Mbappé. Leo is 35 and Kylian will be 24 in a few days, on December 20. In one match they will decide who is the champion and perhaps even who is the figure of the World Cup, even if only a brilliant performance from the Frenchman could topple the Argentine captain from his throne, with or without a title.

It can be the end of one era and the beginning of another, the consecration of a myth and the possible beginning of another, at least in the history of world Cup, bearing in mind that Messi has announced that this final will be his last World Cup match and that Mbappé could play many more World Cups. Then it seems the delivery of a mail, also a heavy inheritance for the prince. Messi leaves the rod too high.

Leo has scored five World Cups, so far with 11 goals in 25 games. When he takes to the field at the Lusail stadium, he will become the most capped player at the World Cup, surpassing German Lothar Matthäus, among other records, which he equaled in the match against Croatia. Instead Mbappé is playing his second World Cup, has 9 goals in 13 games and leads his teammate from Paris Saint-Germain because he was already champion in 2018, at just 19 years old. Kylian can be a two-time under 24 champion, something that only Pele has achievedwith 19, in 1962, despite playing little that time.

Between the two there is more than a decade of age difference, but many curiosities that unite them. Messi was born in 1987, a year after the Argentine consecration at the 1986 World Cup, that of Diego Maradona. Mbappé did it in 1998, months after France won their first Cup, on home soil, with Zinedine Zidane as a major figure.

The two play with the number 10 shirt and are the maximum references for their respective teams. But the number, in addition to being a qualifying and indelible symbol in football, defines his game but not his role on the pitch. In this sense, Messi is unclassifiable. In the new setup of Lionel Scaloni’s team, Leo starts as nine, but appears and disappears at any time, chooses the point where he can damage the opponent the most, looks for where the defensive failure is. And there he attacks, to define or invent a goal as a teammate, as he did with Julián Álvarez against Croatia. Because you can also do the assistance of an author and leave him in the story. Messi’s left foot proves it.

Mbappé is easier to spot on the pitch, which doesn’t mean he’s easy to neutralize. Unlike World Cup in Russia, where he started on the right in the 4-2-3-1 set up by coach Didier Deschamps, now moves to the left. He goes back a bit and looks like a classic left fielder. His change of pace is unique: a sprinter playing soccer. Outside or diagonally he becomes demonized. Kylian had an electric start to this World Cup: one goal against Australia and two against Denmark in the group stage, two against Poland in the round of 16. England manages to cancel it and against Morocco they seem to rest, until after 79 minutes they decide to dribble in the area and force a double, converted by Kolo Muani.

One difference: Messi is the soul of the national team, Mbappé is one of the best weapons in France. It’s not the same.

While the world debates between Messi and Mbappé, the big winner of this final is Paris Saint-Germain, owned by the Qatar Investment Authority. Nasser Al Khelaïfi, president of the club, revealed in an interview who wants to win the Cup: “If I go with France to the final? Sure, my club is French, my second country is France, but I also have a player in Argentina, Messi, and this is the last World Cup for him. Mbappé is the only PSG player to have played in two finals in a row. It’s wonderful. I can’t wait for this final, because he’s a great Pleasure for I hope it’s France, but Argentina also had a good World Cup, with Leo… If I could, I’d give it to both.” For PSG, and for Qatar, it’s all profit. Because even Messi lit up the World Cup by forgetting the controversy over the venue.

Beyond even a counterpoint that took place in May and that today the networks are busy shooting. It was when Mbappé declared: “The advantage we have in Europe is that we always play matches at a high level. Argentina and Brazil don’t have that, in South America football is not as advanced as in Europe and that’s why when you look at last World Cup In the world it is always the Europeans who win”. And Messi replied: “We didn’t talk about it. I didn’t see how he said it, or what he said. But we talked about it many times in Spain. We said, you know how difficult it would be for you to qualify for the World Cup if you had to go to play there: Colombia, the altitude, the heat, Venezuela…”.

When all this is over, Messi and Mbappé will find themselves in PSG shirts and several goals in common, with the Champions League as a priority. They are not friends, but those who know the French giant’s privacy assure that there is no interference between the two, that the atmosphere in the locker room has improved a lot and that Leo is largely responsible for it.

But first there is an unmissable final. The ultimate show of the best of recent times and possible prominence in the hands of one of the leading exponents of the new era. One is already a legend, the other is about to become one. The grand finale sees the protagonists of the dream continue to write history.

From Qatar, special envoy.