🥇 MOTM: France's superstar writes his name into World Cup folklore | OneFootball

France comfortably brushed aside Poland to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

And our Man of the Match is …

Kylian Mbappé (France)

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In a game where Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time top goalscorer, it would have to be some performance from another player for the Milan striker not to be awarded Man of the Match.

But what we have just seen was some performance by a player who has already lit up one World Cup, looks like he is about to light up another and will no doubt dominate one or two others after this as well.

Pelé, Diego Maradona, Miroslav Klose are all legendary names associated with the greatest prize in the sport, but that club has a new member, and this newcomer could just surpass them all.

Kylian Mbappé has now scored nine goals at the World Cup finals at the age of just 23, surpassing Pele (8) for goals scored at the tournament before turning 24.

He’s hit the back of the net more than Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo have ever done at a World Cup and has the same amount as a certain Lionel Messi.

His two goals in the last 15 minutes tonight also meant he became the first French player to score more than four goals at two different tournaments.

Forget everything you ever knew, there’s a new chief in town who will re-write and challenge everything you ever knew about the game.

The PSG man set up Giroud’s history-making opener but then faded into the game, producing some nice touches at times but failing to have any major impact until he took one touch to control the ball and curled it into the back of the net with the other in the 75th minute.

His second put the game beyond all doubt in the first minute of stoppage time, wriggling free inside the area before arrowing a powerful effort into the far top corner like he was doing it in his sleep.

Mbappé’s skills aren’t new to any of us but the beauty of this competition is that now the world gets to see them on display.

People with only a passing interest in the sport now know Mbappé’s name. Non-French national team supporters will be rushing to order France shirts with ‘Mbappé 10’ on the back.

He had already announced himself to the world in 2018. This was his statement to let us know the future is now.