ICONS: How teenage Kylian Mbappe twice emulated Pele during France's 2018 World Cup triumph

France actually made an inauspicious start in Russia despite having a star-studded squad at their disposal that also featured Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Raphael Varane, requiring a penalty and a freak own goal to see off Australia in their opening game before finding the going tough against another stubborn opponent in Peru.

Mbappe, though, stepped up to fire Les Bleus into the last 16. You would be hard pressed to recall his first World Cup goal without the aid of the internet, and that’s because it was probably the simplest of his entire career to date; after Olivier Giroud’s deflected shot had looped over the Peruvian goalkeeper, the teenager was on hand to tap the ball over the line from quite literally one yard out. In that moment, he became his country’s youngest goal-scorer in World Cup history.

A much-rotated France side would be held to a goalless draw by Denmark in their final Group C game as their deceptively indifferent start continued, but Mbappe’s effort meant they were already safely through to the knockout stages as group winners.

June 30, 2018. That was the day the world began to understand. If people hadn’t already sat up and taken notice of Mbappe’s exploits in the group stage, they certainly would in the last 16.

It was Kylian Mbappe vs Lionel Messi in what would prove to be a World Cup classic, as Argentina’s disappointing second-placed finish in Group D set up a mouth-watering showdown with France in Kazan in the first knockout round. Prematurely described as a passing of the world’s best torch at the time, this would be the defining game of Mbappe's career to date, as he showcased his incredible athleticism and devastating finishing ability to usher in a new era of superstars.

It was Mbappe who cracked the game open just 11 minutes in, seizing on the ball deep in his own half after Messi, of all people, had given it away. What followed was a jaw-dropping demonstration of what the teenager was capable of, as he left almost the entire Argentina team in his wake, sprinting out of their clutches and searing into the penalty area before being felled by the hapless Marcos Rojo, who was just trying to keep up.

Antoine Griezmann converted the resulting spot-kick, but a completely unpredictable contest was level again at the hour mark after Angel Di Maria and Benjamin Pavard had exchanged screamers after a deflected Messi shot briefly gave the Albiceleste the lead. But in the space of four minutes, Mbappe took the game by the scruff of the neck and away from Argentina.

On 64 minutes, he controlled a ricocheting ball and somehow engineered space in a crowded penalty before unleashing a fierce left-footed strike that squirmed under the soft wrists of goalkeeper Franco Armani, giving his country a 3-2 lead. With their fans still celebrating, a flowing team move from back to front culminated in Giroud slipping a deft pass into the path of the onrushing 19-year-old, and he fired an unerring first-time finish into the bottom corner to spark pandemonium on the sidelines.

Despite Sergio Aguero’s late consolation, that effort saw Mbappe put the game out of reach of one all-time great in Messi, as he emulated another by becoming the first teenager to score two goals in a World Cup knockout match since a 17-year-old Pele in Sweden in 1958. After 60 long years, the record had finally been matched.

That feat earned the acclaim of the late, great forward, as Pele took to Twitter to write: “Congratulations, @KMbappe. Two goals in a World Cup so young puts you in great company! Good luck for your other games. Except against Brazil!”

But despite joining the Brazil icon in that most exclusive of clubs, Mbappe showed nothing but humility in the aftermath of sending his country to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, belying his young age.

"It's flattering to be the second one after Pele but let's put things into context - Pele is in another category,” he said. “But it is good to be among these people and to score in knockout matches. I am only young, I was born in the same year France won the World Cup (1998). That was our only time but this is our opportunity to show our abilities. There is certainly no better place to shine than this. All the top players are here, it is the greatest stage."

“[1998] That was a good year - we got the World Cup and Kylian was born,” Deschamps echoed, recognising that we had all witnessed Mbappe take a huge stride on the path to greatness. “In such an important match, he showed all his talent. As well as scoring twice and earning the penalty, he also defended well when he had to.

“He’s a great young man. He adores football, he knows everything about clubs and players. I am so happy he is French and is progressing so well.”

His team-mates, too, acknowledged that this was a watershed moment in the youngster’s career. “That’s the Kylian we needed to see,” Griezmann told the media. “He made the difference by winning the penalty and then scoring two goals. It’s obvious that he does us a lot of good. When we had complicated moments, he was there.

“The world will hopefully now see the potential we have as a team. But Kylian has been revealed in the eyes of everyone.”

It was almost prophetic that Mbappe would not have the same influence in the quarter- and semi-finals before re-emerging as the hero on the biggest stage, as France - often criticised for their conservative tactics - battled their way through to the showpiece in Moscow.

It was Griezmann who inspired them past Uruguay in the last eight, providing a free-kick assist for Varane before goalkeeper Fernando Muslera somehow failed to keep out his long-range strike to wrap up a routine 2-0 win in a show of ruthless efficiency from Les Bleus. Mbappe did have a glorious opportunity to open the scoring, but he mistimed his header horribly.

In the semi-final against Belgium, Mbappe was France’s outlet as they were forced to defend for long periods against their neighbours’ golden generation, led by Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne. Although he didn’t get himself on the scoresheet, the youngster was always a threat on the counter-attack, exhibiting his quick feet and positional intelligence - never allowing the Belgian defence to relax.

The highlight was an outrageous double-contact flick to put Giroud through on goal, but the striker’s effort was denied by a desperate block. Ultimately, though, Samuel Umtiti’s header was enough for Deschamps’ men to edge into the final, where Croatia would await.

Having been kept relatively quiet since his dominant individual display against Argentina in the last 16, the question was whether Mbappe could stand up and deliver on world football’s biggest stage. The answer? An emphatic yes.

For 45 minutes, though, it didn’t seem as though that would be the case; the teenager was peripheral in the first half of a chaotic final, perhaps overawed by the occasion. France had established a narrow 2-1 advantage at the break, once again courtesy of an own goal and a penalty to mirror their opening-match victory over Australia.

In the second period, though, Mbappe came to life, terrorising Croatia on the break as a clinical French side surged into an unassailable lead over the perennial dark horses. It was his jinking run on the right channel that eventually led to the ball falling for Pogba, who swept home a fine left-foot finish at the second attempt to make it 3-1.

Just six minutes later came the crowning moment of Mbappe’s wonderful tournament, as the PSG star drifted in from the right flank to collect a pass from Lucas Hernandez in a central area, before taking aim and crashing a precise low strike into the bottom corner from 25 yards out. Game over.

“The boy with the world at his feet: Kylian Mbappe,” Peter Drury effused on commentary. “Think of the life ahead of this kid.”

With that swing of his right boot, Mbappe matched the great Pele for the second time in the same tournament, becoming just the second teenager ever to score in a World Cup final, as France lifted the trophy for the first time since 1998 - the birth year of their new hero.

Once again, the great man himself was more than happy to be joined in the highly-exclusive pantheon of young World Cup marksmen. "Only the second teenager to have scored a goal in a #WorldCupFinal!" Pele tweeted. "Welcome to the club, @KMbappe - it's great to have some company!" The then-77-year-old followed that up by adding: "If Kylian keeps equalling my records like this I may have to dust my boots off again..."

It’s clear the young forward had earned the admiration of the man with whom he shares the unique record, as Pele later said in December that year: "I already complimented Mbappe last year, saying he was a great player. He won the World Cup at 19, I was only 17 years old when I won it. I said to him that he could equal me, I think he can become the new Pele. A lot of people think I said that as a joke, but no, it's not a joke!"

Indeed, at the tournament and amid all the hype surrounding him, Mbappe seemed to have understood what was required to become an all-time great.

"I have learned that the biggest stars and the greatest players are the most humble ones, the ones who respect people the most,” he said in a rare front-cover interview with Time magazine later in 2018. “There are three criteria: respect, humility and lucidity. My mother has always told me that to become a great football player, you must be, before all, a great man."

Mbappe’s words in the immediate aftermath of the final in Moscow, when the confetti had barely settled on the grass at the Luzhniki Stadium, spoke to that humility and lucidity, as well as his elite mentality at such a young age.

“I am very happy. I spoke about my ambitions before the World Cup. The road was long but it was worth it. We’re proud to have made the French happy. That was our role, for them to forget about all their problems. This is the kind of thing we play for.

“I don’t just want to be someone passing through in football. Becoming world champion sends a message. I want to do even better, but winning the World Cup is already a good start.”

Looking back at the 2018 World Cup and what has come to pass in the eight years since, Mbappe really needn’t have worried. This tournament proved to be his launchpad to global superstardom, as he gleamed and glistened under the intense shine of the spotlight in Russia, twice matching arguably the greatest player of all time.

Having fulfilled his potential to become one of - if not the - finest players on the planet himself, he is already a World Cup icon at the age of 26.

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