Mbappé takes the Golden Boot but timid start denies France the real trophy

Sublime striker explodes into life to drag his side level-but a madcap match was proof champions' plan had failed

- Jacob Steinberg

It was never part of the plan for Didier Deschamps to unveil a gambler's instinct. France's manager reads from a pragmatic playbook. When he was putting the finishing touches to his tactical preparations for this contest, Deschamps never could have imagined that Kylian Mbappé would have been standing over a penalty with two minutes of extra-time remaining, readying himself to rescue France for a second time and become the first player to score a hat-trick in a men's World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966.

Everything had spiralled out of control, Argentina's emotion trumping French cool. Caution? Organisation? Waiting for moments to strike on the break? Forget it. Lionel Messi had given Argentina a 3-2 lead and France needed something extraordinary.

Of course, fairytale endings are often ripped up when Mbappé grabs the script. Even Messi could feel the narrative slipping away as Mbappé stirred towards the end of normal time, a two-goal lead vanishing, the story changing from Argentinian fantasy to France establishing themselves as one of the greatest teams of all time.

How to make sense of it all? France, flu-ridden and misshapen, were barely with us for the first 79 minutes. They lost it once, fought back from 2-0 down, lost it again and equalised again when the astonishing Mbappé converted his second penalty.

By the end Mbappé had the Golden Boot. Not the trophy, though. That belonged to Messi, which felt right. Argentina were the more complete team. France did not deserve to escape and the harsh reality is that Deschamps must reflect on the meek way his team started. It finished with a penalty shootout; really, though, France lost it during a wretched opening.