As Kylian Mbappe arrowed a volley into the bottom corner of the net at the Lusail Stadium, an entire planet gasped. The most dramatic moment of the greatest World Cup final of all time came not from Lionel Messi, but the man who ended up on the losing side.
With his second goal in two minutes, astonishingly levelling a game that looked done and dusted, Mbappe had sealed his status as a World Cup legend. A 2018 champion at just 19, his toe-to-toe battle with the best player in history in Qatar will forever endure. A battle for the World Cup, Golden Boot and Ballon d’Or, all on one night.
Like the match itself, the Golden Boot tussle swung back and forth: first Messi led, then Mbappe, then Messi again, then finally Mbappe, after the first hat-trick in a World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst. In 13 World Cups since
