Kylian Mbappe ‘on verge of greatness’ as ‘unstoppable’ France labelled greatest attack of all time

Kylian Mbappe-inspired France once again marked themselves out as the team to beat at the World Cup.

The thrilling race for World Cup goalscoring supremacy hotted up even more as captain Mbappe’s brace fired Les Bleus to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Sweden in the round of 32.

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Mbappe’s World Cup

As good as unplayable right now, Mbappe moved clear of Miroslav Klose to go second on all-time list of leading World Cup scorers with 18 goals, just one behind Lionel Messi – who only broke the record himself last week – and draw level with Messi in the race for this year’s Golden Boot after finding the net for the sixth time in North America.

Winning in ominous fashion for the rest of this summer’s hopefuls, France comfortably dispatched Graham Potter’s side in New Jersey to set up a last-16 tie against Paraguay on Saturday.

All of the star-studded French front four got in on the action, with Bradley Barcola notching up Les Bleus’ other goal, Ousmane Dembele providing one assist and Michael Olise geting two.

Having swept the two-time world champions ahead on the stroke of half-time, Mbappe turned the style dial to ten for his second and France’s third goal, beginning the move with a jaw-dropping backheel to Barcola before latching onto Olise’s through-ball and producing a near-identical finish to his opener.

And Gary Neville was almost lost for words about Mbappe’s extraordinary exploits (he won’t have been the only one).

Joined by 1998 France World Cup winner Patrick Vieira on ITV punditry duty, Neville remarked: “Patrick said a couple of shows ago I think that this was the Mbappe World Cup. [I] completely and utterly agree with him; he is a level that is just… He’s on the verge of greatness.”

Commentating on the game for talkSPORT, Tony Cascarino heaped further praise on Didier Deschamps’ sparkling French team.

“I’ve never seen a forward line as good as this one,” said the former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland striker. “There’s been Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, the original Ronaldo – I’ve never seen a more complete front line than the French.”

“I don’t think a team with 10 men behind the ball could stop this France team… What do you do to stop them?” Cascarino later continued.

“France have been merciless in their attacking; they’ve just kept going.”

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AFP

France deliver ‘aesthetic pleasure’

Reacting to Kylian Mbappe’s late withdrawal, which meant he wouldn’t equal Messi on the day, ITV’s Jon Champion reflected to co-commentator Ally McCoist: “It’s not really a day for numbers, though, is it? It’s a day for the aesthetic pleasure France have provided.”

France’s first win over Sweden at a major tournament takes them one step closer to reaching a third straight final – a feat previously only achieved by West Germany (1982-1990) and Brazil (1994-2002).

But it goes without saying France won’t just want to get to the final. They will want to get their hands on the trophy for a third time.

Do that and Deschamps – who has already gone down in World Cup history as one of only three players to win the tournament as a player and a manager – will emulate the legendary Vittorio Pozzo as the only coach to lead a team to two World Cup triumphs, having done so with Italy way back in 1934 and 1938.

As for Mbappe, he – along with teammates Dembele, Ngolo Kante and Lucas Hernandez – could join the exclusive club of players to win multiple World Cups.

He’s also firmly in the running for a second Golden Boot – something no one has ever managed in the history of the tournament – having scooped the award as France finished as runners-up to Argentina in Qatar four years ago.