Mbappé electrifies in World Cup epic, ends up on losing side

LUSAIL, Qatar (AP):

Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick seemingly from out of nowhere to electrify the World Cup final, he ended the tournament as the leading scorer with eight goals, and he still missed out on winning a second straight title.

The France superstar was on the losing side of an epic final against Argentina that was settled in a penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw yesterday. He was then consoled on the field by French President Emmanuel Macron.

“Kylian has really left his mark on this final,” France coach Didier Deschamps said.

Mbappé had been the leader France desperately needed as time was running out, with the defending champions trailing 2-0 and playing poorly. The forward had also been almost invisible up to that point.

But his goals carried France back into the match – twice. First, late in regulation time. Then again deep in extra time.

Mbappé converted a penalty in the 80th minute and then scored with a volley from just inside the area in the 81st.

It took only 97 seconds for him to get France even with Argentina and the great Lionel Messi.

Mbappé scored a second penalty in extra time, about 10 minutes after Messi had given Argentina the lead again in what became a compelling duel between the two players.

Mbappé’s hat-trick was only the second in a World Cup final – the other was by England striker Geoff Hurst in 1966.

The Frenchman leaves Qatar with the Golden Boot trophy as the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals. At the age of 23, he has matched Pelé’s career total of 12 World Cup goals.

But Mbappé couldn’t quite match the Brazil great’s back-to-back World Cup titles – both players were teenagers when they won their first one, Pelé in 1958 and Mbappé in 2018.

One minute before Mbappé turned the game on its head, Argentina’s fans began to taunt him.

Chants of “Olé! Olé!” rained down from the stands at Lusail Stadium as Mbappé futilely chased the ball while his opponents passed it over and around him.

But after scoring his first two goals, Mbappé surged into the Argentina half looking for a game-winning third. His darting, twisting run resulted in a shot deflected just too high.

Once he eventually got the hat-trick to make it 3-3 in extra time, Mbappé set out for a fourth. His curling cross barely eluded the head of substitute Randal Kolo Muani, and a final dribble deep into the Argentina penalty area was scrambled clear as he looked to shoot.

Mbappé tried to set the tone in the penalty shoot-out, taking responsibility for the first kick. He converted the penalty, but France still ended up losing 4-2. Messi did the same for Argentina to start the shoot-out, but his teammates all scored their penalties.

During the shoot-out, Mbappé made sure he was the first to console Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouaméni on their slow walks back to the centre circle after their failures to score.

Mbappé stood bent over in the centre circle, hands on his knees, as Argentina defender Gonzalo Montiel prepared to take the decisive kick. He then squatted, saw the net ripple, and walked away alone amid the Argentina celebrations.