Mbappe "crushes" Messi, France sends Argentina out of World Cup 2018

After escaping the "death door" in the match against Nigeria, the coach made some strange changes when facing France in the round of 16. He put both Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero on the bench and only let Lionel Messi play alongside satellites like Angel Di Maria and Cristian Pavon.

Mbappe had a great game with two goals and a penalty earned.

However, the French's style of playing by focusing on Messi like in the previous 3 matches at the World Cup was soon discovered. N'Golo Kante was assigned to mark the 31-year-old striker and kept Messi at bay throughout the match. On the contrary, Argentina always had to face sharp counter-attacks from their opponents.

In the 13th minute, Argentina's aging defense paid the price. From a lightning-fast dribble, Kylian Mbappe overtook Marcos Rojo and forced the defender to commit a foul in the penalty area. A penalty was awarded to the Gallic Roosters and Antoine Griezmann did not miss the opportunity.

Despite the defeat, the Tango team still showed no signs of improvement. They played monotonously and only relied on random crosses from the wings. However, when the strikers in the attack line played deadlocked, Di Maria inspired the home team with a wonderful long-range shot in the 41st minute.

After the break, Argentina's spirits were high and they scored another goal through Gabriel Mercado. Messi's weak shot from outside the box hit Mercado's foot and changed direction, leaving goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with no choice but to retrieve the ball from the net.

Messi, apart from assisting Aguero at the end of the match, did not play as expected.

Playing better, but falling behind, the French team pushed up their formation to find an equalizer. Nearly 10 minutes later, coach Didier Deschamps got what he wanted. Lucas Hernandez's seemingly harmless cross hit the Argentine defender's foot and flew to Benjamin Pavard. He leaned over and fired a shot with the back of his foot into Armani's net.

In the 64th minute, the Argentine defense continued to make mistakes. A whole team of defenders in white and blue stripes, but Mbappe got past and shot diagonally to increase the score to 3-1.

In their haste to push the team up, Messi and his teammates received a "counterattack". The familiar name that punished them was still Mbappe with an accurate shot in the 68th minute.

At the end of the match, Sergio Aguero (the striker who was only brought on in the second half) scored a goal for Argentina in the second minute of extra time, but that was all the Argentines could do in this match. Winning the match 4-3, France deserved to be in the Quarterfinals.

Final: France 4-3 Argentina

Score:

France: Griezmann 13', Mbappe 64', 68', Pavard 57'

Argentina: Di Maria 41', Mercado 48'

Starting lineup:

France (4-2-3-1): Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez, Kante, Pogba, Mbappe, Griezmann, Matuidi, Giroud

Argentina (4-3-3): Armani, Mercado, Otamendi, Rojo, Tagliafico, Mascherano, Enzo Perez, Banega, Pavon, Messi, Di Maria

Watch Mbappe's sprints again: