When he notched France’s fourth goal Sunday with a driving shot from the edge of the penalty box, Mbappe was the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since a guy named Pelé did it in 1958. That feels appropriate since Mbappe burst into the world’s consciousness at this tourney very much the same way Pelé had so many years ago.
Indeed, some sports commentators said this World Cup marked the beginning of a new era in soccer. While soccer fans have had their eyes fixed on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for about 15 years, we may have just entered the era of Mbappe.
It seems rash to say such a thing when Ronaldo and Messi are still racking up record numbers of goals for club and country, and Mbappe is not even the #1 scoring option for his club, Paris Saint-Germain. Ronaldo put on a virtuoso performance at the World Cup and has just signed with Italian champion Juventus, while Messi still puts the fear of God in defenders everywhere with his trademark runs, passes and goals that give Barcelona glory. Playing at a level no one else can match for a decade, they have fueled an ongoing debate about who is the best, giving fans a great ride along the way.
But for the first time in many years, fans will start to think about the young Frenchman with the 1,000-watt grin and lightning speed. Get ready to see Mbappe jerseys on kids everywhere.
World Cup success does that. The world’s best football hasn’t been played at the tournament for many years, but don’t tell casual soccer fans that. The competition of unpolished national teams that takes place every four years still attracts far more attention than the professional game.
When Ronaldo’s Portugal and Messi’s Argentina fell in the first knockout round of the World Cup, the sporting public’s attention was drawn to other actors on the soccer stage who have been toiling in the shadows, relatively speaking. They learned about Romelu Lukaku, a scoring dynamo for Belgium, and Phillipe Coutinho, the real straw that stirs Brazil. With bending free kicks that surely made David Beckham proud, fullback Kieran Trippier pushed England to a fourth-place finish.
And if they made the world sports seismograph wiggle a little, Mbappe rocked it like a 9.2 temblor. Mbappe, who grew up in a poor suburb outside Paris, started playing professional football for Monaco at 16 and scored 13 goals for Paris Saint-Germain in his first season there this year. He’s not that tall, but his long strides take him past scrambling defenders. With his deft dribbling, Mbappe seemed a threat to score any time he touched the ball. With the world’s attention comes a world of expectations now facing Mbappe.
He’s already eschewed the question of whether he can help his country win the World Cup, avoiding the albatross that has hung around Messi and Ronaldo’s necks their entire careers. But will he surpass Neymar as the leader of PSG? Can Mbappe help PSG get past Real Madrid and the other big clubs in the European Champions League? Will he go to Manchester United and restore it to former glory?
Mbappe may struggle to fulfill expectations. Mario Götze, the young hero in Germany’s 2014 World Cup victory, didn’t even start in the Bundesliga last season and was left off the German national team this time around.
But this doesn’t feel likely. It’s time to train our eyes on Kylian Mbappe and revel as he races past defenders on magical fast breaks for cannon shots into the goal. Bask in the warmth of his grin, shining a glorious light on soccer’s present and future.
