Speed kills: Mbappe sets tone as France hits its stride

Kylian Mbappe is now the first teenager to score multiple goals in a World Cup knockout stage match since 1958.

Sixty years after Pele set the mark as a 17-year-old against host Sweden, Mbappe shredded an exposed and off-the-pace Argentina side in Kazan on Saturday to propel France into the quarter-finals.

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Breathtakingly brisk and able to find a gear that bulkier defenders simply can't manage, the 19-year-old's speed was the difference. Chalking up his commanding performance to pace appears simplistic, but against a flat-footed Argentina side that made a conscious effort to control the midfield, Mbappe was unplayable. La Albiceleste had no antidote for the teen talent's feverish runs.

For Jorge Sampaoli's side, the opening stanza revealed two glaring weaknesses: an inability to match Mbappe's speed, and the lack of a central reference in the opposition's penalty area with Lionel Messi playing the false-nine role. Thanks to Angel Di Maria's stellar goal, the two sides entered the break level, a scoreline that flattered the South Americans.

The second half wasn't as kind to the two-time winner, as Mbappe's scything runs on the counter-attack repeatedly unmasked Argentina. It's not like Didier Deschamps' squad selection and choice of formation didn't invite criticism as well. Curiously opting for the same 4-2-3-1 line-up employed in the 1-0 victory over Peru, Blaise Matuidi again started on the left flank with a two-man midfield of Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante tasked with the duties of three players. Pogba and Kante obliged with a pair of standout versatile performances, Olivier Giroud had few touches but was content to track back, and Antoine Griezmann dropped deep on numerous occasions, even dispossessing Messi in the area. It had a look of a side that has more faith in the gaffer than pundits do.

On Saturday, Deschamps got it right, but it required Mbappe's blistering efforts to send the likes of Javier Mascherano and Marcos Rojo into retirement.

First, Mbappe's pace made a fool of a quartet of opponents on Griezmann's first-half penalty, picking the ball up 30 yards inside of his own half before surging towards the area. Rojo characteristically levelled the Paris Saint-Germain star, which foreshadowed the only realistic method of stymieing Mbappe's 73-yard run. In the first half, Mbappe was fouled on three occasions: once on the penalty, then twice on the cusp of the area. Griezmann rattled the bar with a free-kick on the first incident, and France probably could have scored twice more before the interval thanks to the teenager's interventions.

Mbappe got his brace after the break.

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Seven minutes after Benjamin Pavard played the unlikely hero with a dazzling volley that levelled the match at two apiece, Mbappe corralled a ball pinging around the penalty area before playing himself into space with a series of right-footed touches. The teenager then fired an effort off his second-choice left foot that again handed France a deserved advantage.

The second goal was trademark Mbappe. With France surging in search of a fourth, Giroud found Mbappe's unmarked run into the area before the boy from Bondy slotted a cool right-footed finish beyond a helpless Franco Armani. Mbappe didn't break his expansive gait in collecting Giroud's pass, a delectable skill eerily reminiscent of former French star Thierry Henry. It's about more than just pace with Mbappe. His initiative and fearless approach on the ball sets a tone, and his seven successful dribbles were the most in the match - more than the rest of the France side combined.

At the 2016 European Championship, France won its group on seven points with four scored and one against, thanks to a series of efficient yet underwhelming performances that included a goalless draw in the quartet closer with Switzerland. Les Bleus then grew into the tournament, marching all the way to the final before bowing out to Portugal. Two years on, France again topped a group on seven points paired with four goals scored, one conceded, and a 0-0 stalemate in the third of three first-round clashes - and again, Deschamps' charges appear to be growing into a major tournament.

The fact that France is starting to hit its stride just as its star teenager is exploiting opponents with a swift gallop is both emblematic and felicitous. Forty years and a day after Pele bagged a brace in a 5-2 World Cup-clinching victory over Sweden, Mbappe nabbed his own two-goal performance, and, like the Brazilian legend, appears set to lead his side to football's biggest honour.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)