Kylian Mbappe and the French national team were on upset alert against Morocco, semifinalists at the 2022 World Cup, but the former finalists and 2018 champions handled their opponents with grace, defeating them 2-0 in a matchup that was never really close.
And the Real Madrid superstar put together another marquee performance. Mbappe missed a penalty in the first half after a disgraceful decision from the Argentinian refereeing crew to spend three to five minutes reviewing a clear and obvious penalty with no explanation or indication of what they were reviewing, "icing" Mbappe.
But the Frenchman got his revenge in the form of an even sweeter goal in the second half, taking the slightest of angles to beautifully curl past an inspired Bono, one of the best World Cup goalkeepers of the last 10 yearse, with a pinpoint perfect finish. As if to put an exclamation point on his World Cup, Mbappe landed a record second World Cup with at least ten total goal contributions by assisting the 2-0 for Ousmane Dembele.
Kylian Mbappe is back to his best
Whenever Kylian Mbappe has been on the pitch this summer, he has looked a different level to the opposition, explosive off the ball and silky smooth on it with some of the most accomplished and difficult finishes of the entire tournament.
Although there are concerns of rigging and favoritism towards Argentina, Mbappe has sent an explosive message to Lionel Messi and FIFA solely with his play on the pitch. Mbappe is not just here to take over from Messi as the all time top scorer (21 vs. 20 so far) in the futue, but after just barely losing the World Cup to him in the most agonizing way in 2022, he is out for revenge and to tip the scale, snatching the "best player in the world" title from him.
And his message to FIFA is similar. No matter what the refs throw at him, such as this ridiculous delayed penalty to throw him off his game, Mbappe will find a way to excel anyway and take everyone's breath away. Mbappe nearly overcame the odds in the last World Cup against Lionel Messi and Argentina, and now, he is making it clear that he will get his revenge without needing to come so close.
Mbappe had a difficult back half of the 2025/26 season with Real Madrid, but that is now a thing of the past. He is back to his very best.
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