Mbappe was at his effervescent best in the Group D encounter at Al Janoub Stadium, toying with the Socceroos defence all night with his pace and trickery down the left.
It was to France’s relief that he found his straps, as Didier Deschamps’ men found themselves 1-0 down early on to Craig Goodwin’s strike, but thanks to goals from Adrien Rabiot, Mbappe and Olivier Giroud – who bagged a double to equal Thierry Henry’s scoring tally of 51 for France – they found a way back into the contest.
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BBC Sport’s pundits were unanimous in their praise of Mbappe afterwards, as they discussed where the PSG forward could evolve in seasons to come, following huge speculation over his future throughout the last year.
“Do you think he needs to move perhaps from Paris Saint-Germain, does he need to go and play at either Real Madrid – where we all think he’ll probably end up – or Barcelona, or one of the big clubs now in England?,” asked Gary Lineker.
“I think that’s what we all expect him to do,” replied Drogba.
“But I know him a little bit and he really wants to make a statement by winning the Champions League with PSG.
“It would mean a lot for him and for the club as well.”
Responding to Lineker’s question about how teams can stop Mbappe during the rest of the Qatar tournament, ex-Belgium international and current Burnley boss Vincent Kompany said such a task is nearly impossible given the 23-year-old’s skillset.
“There are very few players that give you that feeling [of not being able to stop them], Kompany said.
“I would say Ronaldinho in his prime, probably [Leo] Messi in his prime, Cristiano Ronaldo.
“But these players, there are actually no solutions.
“If he can square you up one v one then you can’t defend against that, if he can run in behind, if he can receive between the lines, and if he can shoot from distance and score a header like he’s done [vs Australia], it’s very difficult to limit a player like this.”
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