France and Argentina played out a World Cup encounter worthy of a classic as the French triumphed with Kylian Mbappe starring in the game.
Twitter went mad with a game like this one, as France beat Argentina 4-3 in a game that could be worthy of a World Cup classic, with plenty of goals and drama involved including some terrific goals and fights on the pitch. France, in the end, were the team that went through to the quarterfinals of the World Cup and Argentina back on a plane to South America.
With seven goals scored, only one man shined above all, Kylian Mbappe. The PSG winger was the star man of the game and indeed showed today how slow the Argentine defenders actually were. His first surging run earned France the penalty to take the lead and then he scored two himself in the second half to destroy Argentina once and for all.
While it was a coming of age party for Mbappe, there was a feeling of a farewell to the other genius on the pitch, Lionel Messi. There is an absolute belief that this could indeed be his last World Cup and the chance to do what Maradona did for Argentina has seemingly passed away, to win the World Cup.
The game, however, was panned out based on several key moments. We look at how Twitter reacted to those crucial moments on the pitch, including to all of the incredible stuff Mbappe did today against Argentina.
Mbappe really began with a bang and kept the tempo of the game at the highest level. His first significant contribution was winning France’ opening penalty, and this boy can run!
Reminds me of a young Thierry…#Mbappe #France
— Princess ? Gooner ⚽ (@GoonerGirl1969) June 30, 2018
And some side the funny side of Mbappe tormenting this Argentina defence.
Argentina every time Mbappa gets the ball #Argentina #France #FRAARG #Mbappe pic.twitter.com/O49rYFt6zB
— Alan Kemp (@ajkemp81) June 30, 2018
And this…
#Mbappe against the Argentine defence. #FRAARG pic.twitter.com/yILFOhEpyN
— Andreas (@linus08150) June 30, 2018
Argentina, however bounced back into the game with a thunderous goal from Angle Di Maria, and Twitter showed just how happy they were at that time…
#Argentina#Dimaria
Angel's shoot. pic.twitter.com/LAO17dBQYE— 青葉 (@Hamachidayo_) June 30, 2018
And Twitter found it hard to get over that sweet Di Maria strike, continuing to praise his effort.
#ARG 1-1 #FRA
What A Beautiful Equaliser By Angel Di Maria! GOAL Of The Tournament. ??Come On #Argentina. Game On. ??? #ARGFRA #FRAARG
#WorldCup #ArgVsFra #Messi #DiMaria pic.twitter.com/zz5OKlb0TY
— David Ajeet (@david_ajeet) June 30, 2018
The second half brought in further excitement and more goals than anyone would have expected. Argentina were the side that started this goals’ trend with Mercado giving the South Americans the lead, but rather luckily, as Messi’s shot deflected off him and into the net.
However, the real deal was the next goal. Pavard equalised for France and, boy what a goal that was, totally out of nowhere. Instantly, there were tweets comparing his strike to that of Di Maria’s and and instant battle began to choose the best among those two.
#FRAARG 2 of the best goals to be scored in the #WorldCup #Dimaria #Pavard” Brilliant World-Class game.
— Richard Stewart (@Richard_GJS) June 30, 2018
Forget all the comparison, but just watch this strike from the French right-back, exceptional!
C'est magnifique! #WorldCup #Pavard pic.twitter.com/eX2tLARMJ6
— Im Sardar (@_FILMBuFF_) June 30, 2018
From thereon, most of us were expecting a tight affair for the rest of the game, but who knew Mbappe would do all that he later did. I mean, lightning striking twice in itself considered impossible, but three times? Kylian Mbappe had Argentina by their throats, and when the South Americans did score a late third, there seemingly was no threat felt by the French. All thanks to the genius of Mbappe and his flying runs.
First task – Matching The French Legend
Kylian Mbappé is the first #FRA player to score two or more goals in a #WorldCup knockout game since Zinedine Zidane in the 1998 final.
Mbappé was born 161 days after that 1998 final. ? pic.twitter.com/ZUu0jOIKiu
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 30, 2018
And then this.
Argentina defender and kylian
mbappe#ArgentinaVsFrancia pic.twitter.com/Nat1Hbgbqw— Ayman wagih (@Aymanwagih9) June 30, 2018
After which there were more comparisons to some of the legends of the game…
Kylian Mbappe is the first teenager to score more than once in a World Cup tournament since Michael Owen scored one in 2 separate games in 1998. Mbappe wasn’t born then. He’s also the first teenager to score 2 in a match since Pele v Sweden in the final of 1958. ?
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 30, 2018
While there is no doubt he is the next big thing, this tweet just expresses the feeling inside.
People calling Mbappé the 'next big thing' are underrating him. He's won back to back leagues, torn up the UCL and now World Cup at 19. He's the current big thing. World class forward already.
— ™️ (@TheFalseNein) June 30, 2018
While a Bollywood legend too had his say on Mbappe and he had a new nickname for him as well.
T 2853 – BUT … what a WC 2018 game .. France vs Argentina !! 4-3 , FRANCE .. a young team and the 19 yr old Mbappé does it for them !! Truly a 'baap' . ..Amazing !!????
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) June 30, 2018
For all the chatter around Mbappe, fans soon realised that this could be Lionel Messi’s last ever appearance in the World Cup and also a player of his calibre possibly ends up without a single knockout goal to his name in All the world cups he’s played till date.
You carry your country to three finals, to be let down by teammates.
You come out of retirement, single handedly pull your team into the World Cup. Once you get there, your manager loses all footballing knowledge, and gets you knocked out early.
Still the greatest. #Messi #ARG pic.twitter.com/Fhw3NBSlce
— Liam Grimshaw ????? (@LiamGrimshawLFC) June 30, 2018
Well, eventually it sometimes comes to a point where even the greatest players cannot improve their team’s fortunes, and fans have to accept losses like these. But in all the Argentine loss, we did gain a serial winner in Kylian Mbappe, who after his display was considered the Man of the Match. Patrick Kluivert definitely thought so before FIFA did.
#FranceArgentine @FIFAWorldCup What a match, great goal of Angel Di Maria, @KMbappe man of the match and future Balon D’or for sure .
— Patrick Kluivert (@PatrickKluivert) June 30, 2018
But then, FIFA thought the same thing too…
The @Budweiser #ManoftheMatch for #FRAARG is @KMbappe! pic.twitter.com/qukbCOeYk6
— FIFA World Cup ? (@FIFAWorldCup) June 30, 2018
