Mbappe is Mr World Cup and France look simply unstoppable after Morocco cruise

Lionel Messi may be the GOAT, but Kylian Mbappe is Mr World Cup.

He extended his astonishing World Cup record with another goal and assist in an ultimately facile France win over a deeply disappointing Morocco, who offered almost nothing as Les Bleus sauntered into the last four with such ease that Mbappe was able to watch the final 15 minutes from the comfort of the bench.

So soon after Messi became the first man to reach 20 World Cup goals, Mbappe reached the landmark here in three fewer World Cups and 10 fewer games. He now sits level on eight goals in this tournament and one behind Messi’s 21 overall.

The truly staggering thing about Mbappe’s record, though, is that over half his 20 World Cup goals have come in knockout matches. His knockout tally alone would now place him in the all-time top 10.

He’s every chance of becoming the first man ever to win two World Cup golden boots, and any remaining Messi record he can’t beat at this World Cup feels like it’s only a matter of time.

Even that record for penalties missed can’t be ruled out. The only blip for Mbappe here was a genuinely honking penalty – that he had won himself – that was saved by Morocco’s penalty specialist keeper Bono.

Not that it needed a penalty specialist. Or even a keeper, really. Actual Bono would have saved it, so inexplicably tame and telegraphed was Mbappe’s stutter-run-upped effort. Even Fake Bono from I’m Alan Partridge would’ve backed himself to keep it out.

It was worse than Messi’s the other night. Although we should note that the three-minute-plus delay between the straightforward award of a straightforward penalty and the taking of said penalty was a farce. And while we’re on that subject, someone is going to have to explain to us how a three-minute penalty delay and a three-minute drinks break added up to five minutes of added time in that first half.

But it didn’t really matter. The presence of Bono in that Morocco goal, and absence of Ismael Saibari up front, offered some explanation for their deeply negative tactics. Which were, in essence, to try and play out 120 minutes for a penalty shoot-out. They got about halfway there. It’s not a bad effort, in fairness, which also just highlights just how unlikely it was to actually work.

Then, finally and inevitably, they got Mbapped. His curling finish from the edge of the box was a thing of majestic beauty to bring all Morocco’s plans crashing down around them.

Before they’d even had time to reconsider what they might try and do instead – and we do have to assume that at some point in team meetings this week there was some thought given to what they might do in the even of not keeping the tournament’s best attack out for over two hours – it was 2-0 and game over.

Mbappe made both the pass to Ousmane Dembele and then provided the subsequent Vinny Samways uses-him-by-not-using him run that magnetically drew defenders away from Dembele before he found the bottom corner.

It’s emblematic of the specific problem that comes with facing this France team. The serious contenders left in the competition may all have a conspicuous star man and key threat as France do with Mbappe, but none has the supporting cast of near-equals that France possess.

The sight of defenders being drawn in by Mbappe’s gravity when he doesn’t have the ball, even when a literal Ballon d’Or winner does is, frankly, terrifying.

We’re not sure how you go about trying to stop them, but we’re fairly certain it cannot be done the way Morocco attempted it. There’s being pragmatic and not leaving yourself open to embarrassment, and there’s offering nothing at all. There’s no high-percentage option, but this felt like a particularly low-percentage choice, really. Morocco tried to be Homer Simpson to France’s Drederick Tatum, with similar results.

Anything that relies on keeping Mbappe, Dembele, Michael Olise and Desire Doue – and that’s just the starters – completely quiet for two hours while offering absolutely nothing of your own going forward just isn’t going to cut it.

We don’t want to be too harsh on Morocco, who were simply outgunned here and probably had no plausible route to victory. But they’re better than this. The semi-finalists from four years ago and African ‘champions’ should be held to higher standards than attempting a 120-minute rearguard.

In the end, they couldn’t even make life as hard for France as Paraguay had in the last 16. That was ugly at times, but at least going for sh*thousery is going for something.

Morocco couldn’t even manage that.

France can surely expect tougher tests in their two remaining steps to glory, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to see how anybody might find a way to stop this team.

But we can at least hope that your Spains and Argentinas or who knows maybe even the Englands of this world might try something more than this. Morocco tried nothing and were all out of ideas.