Mbappe's World Cup ends in near silence as Spain shuts down France 2-0

[Nomad]

Kylian Mbappe's World Cup dream is over after Spain beat France 2-0 in Tuesday's semifinal, with the moment crystallizing in the 58th minute when Pedro Porro's shot found the net and Mbappe simply flung his arm up, wiped his face with his jersey, and walked back to midfield. One of the sport's biggest stars, capable of single handedly changing a match, couldn't do it against a Spanish side that frustrated France at every turn and made the tournament favorites look ordinary all night

The numbers tell the story of a frustrating night for him personally, just three shots and none on target, a yellow card in the 86th minute after colliding with goalkeeper Unai Simon, and a late free kick from outside the box that sailed over the crossbar. Afterward Mbappe took the responsibility squarely on himself, saying you take all the glory when you win and when you don't win, you have to take the rest, adding that as captain he has to own that

It's a sharp contrast to four years ago in Qatar, where a 23 year old Mbappe scored eight goals including a hat trick in the final against Argentina, forcing a penalty shootout in a match many still call one of the greatest World Cup finals ever, even though France lost that one too. This year he tied Lionel Messi atop the Golden Boot race with eight goals through the earlier rounds, but the semifinal drought means his tournament ends without a trophy for the second straight edition

France now prepare for Saturday's third place playoff against England, who lost their own semifinal to Argentina, rather than the final everyone had circled France for. Mbappe still sits one goal behind Messi on the World Cup's all time scoring list with 19 goals across just three tournaments, and remains the only player ever to score at least three goals in the knockout stage at three separate World Cups, meaning history will likely still favor him even though this particular chapter ends with nothing to show for it

Kylian Mbappé Leaves World Cup With Legacy Intact But Nothing To Show For It | FOX Sportswww.foxsports.com

[Voyager43]

Taking full personal responsibility so directly in the post match interview says a lot about him as a captain, easier to hide behind team performance but he didn't