Soccer
Mbappe or Messi? World Cup winner has his say on World Cup battle
FIFA+: World Cup archive & programmes FREE on DAZN
One of the most fascinating facets of this has been the way the superstars of the game have really come out to play.
Often in summer tournaments, you get one ot two who live up to the hype, but usually after a long hard domestic season, those headline acts don't quite manage to live up to the billing. Not this year.
From Erling Haaland to Harry Kane, Vinicius Jr to Ousmane Dembele, the leading lights are revelling in the North American sun and none more so than Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
Often in summer tournaments, you get one ot two who live up to the hype, but usually after a long hard domestic season, those headline acts don't quite manage to live up to the billing. Not this year.
From Erling Haaland to Harry Kane, Vinicius Jr to Ousmane Dembele, the leading lights are revelling in the North American sun and none more so than Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
Pochettino fumes at Balogun sending off: "It was never a red"
Watch: USA boss praises players' reaction after controversary
The protagonists from the 2022 final have been at it again from the off in this year's finals, with Messi kicking off proceedings with his first-ever World Cup hat-trick and going on to overtake Miroslav Klose as the tournament's all-time leading goalscorer.
Already on six goals, he's joined at the top of the charts by Mbappe, who's been breaking records of his own Stateside.
In scoring his six, he's become his country's record goalscorer and is now just one behind Messi in the all-time World Cup goal-getters, too.
Their battle has added an extra slice of narrative to the competition, and with both not able to meet each other until the final, it's one that could literally go all the way.
Watching on like the rest of us has been 1998 World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, who as a fellow Frenchman, you'd expect to be backing his country's captain.
However, speaking exclusively to DAZN News thanks to Jackpot City Casino, the former midfielder can't help but admire Messi and hopes to see them meet in the final later this month.
PAUL ELLIS / Contributor
"France vs Argentina final? I hope so for France," Petit said.
"If we can have the same final that we had in 2022 in Qatar, I would be happy. It is going to be a fierce battle until the end.
"Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi will be there, but they are not the only ones. We have a couple of names that can come up for the Golden Boot. It will be very interesting to see, but I have no idea who will finish as top scorer.
"But overall, we can’t compare Messi with Mbappe. I am sorry, Kylian Mbappe has done great things so far, but I think Messi is a step ahead. Messi is, in my opinion, probably the best player in football history. He has won everything he ever wanted.
"Kylian Mbappe still has a long way to go to reach that same level."
(C)Getty Images
France will go into their Round of 16 match on Saturday with the expectation to sweep away Paraguay and continue their march on a trophy they are now clear favourites for.
Along with Mbappe, the frontline of Michael Olise, Dembele and Bradley Barcola has played a starring role in their success so far and looks impossible to stop.
Yet, as good as this French team are, Petit still doesn't think they match up to the team he won the World Cup with at France '98.
Adding, "In 1998, I think we were a strong team as a unit.
"We didn’t concede many goals and didn’t give anything to the opponent during games. This is probably one of the biggest differences between the two teams.
"Up front, I think the potential of this 2026 side is much better than ours, but I think the tactical balance was much better in our team, as was the mentality.
"I won’t say that this team is weak mentally, but although they are strong, I think we were really strong. It was very difficult for the opponent to beat us. These are the two main differences."
Watch the world's best football on DAZN
After the World Cup is over, there is so much great football still to watch on DAZN.
Premier League: All English top-flight matches live and in full in Canada
Serie A: Watch all 380 matches of the Italian league live in the UK and Canada. Also in the US in Spanish language
Champions League: Watch every match of the 2026/27 campaign in Canada. Three matches per round exclusively in the US, in Spanish language
National League: DAZN is the home of the National League, with every game available either live or on-demand, plus selected North and South matches
FIFA+ on DAZN: Watch over 7,000 live matches a year, plus World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, films, and player profiles for FREE
