Argentina vs France. Lionel Messi vs Kylian Mbappe. King vs heir to the throne. Script writers could hardly have come up with a better World Cup final storyline.
The player widely regarded as the greatest of his generation will face the man expected to be the best of his generation in a mouth-watering battle for football’s top prize on Sunday night in Qatar. And it promises to be a fascinating battle between the two Paris Saint-Germain teammates.
The game represents Messi’s final chance of international immortality as he looks to win the trophy Mbappe won as a teenager in Russia four years ago. It could also represent something of a symbolic changing of the guard as the 23-year-old looks to prove once and for all he is now the world’s best.
And that is something Mbappe has never been frightened to admit he wants to achieve. In fact, he has directly discussed his determination to lead the “new generation” in a cutting warning to Messi that his time at the top will soon come to an end.
Speaking in an interview with the New York Times, in September, Mbappe said: “I think I’m about to win it [the Ballon d’Or].
“I always say I dream about everything. I have no limits. So of course, like you say, it’s a new generation. And Ronaldo, Messi — you’re gonna stop. We have to find someone else, someone new.”
