Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappé's four-goal turn for France in the 8-0 win over Kazakhstan that qualified Les Bleus for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar saw the the prodigy join the exclusive club off players to have earned a 10/10 from notoriously hard markers L'Equipe...
Before Saturday night, only 11 players - including the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry and France legend Franck Sauzée - had earned the perfect score from French sports daily L'Equipe, but now there are 12!
Perfect!
Mbappé's stellar performance not only put the ghost of his penalty miss at Euro 2020 to bed, it helped France clinch qualification for the World Cup and levelled Just Fontaine's 63-year-old record of four goals in a single match for France - enough to convince the printed pillar of France's sporting culture that the 22-year-old from the suburbs of northern Paris could not have done any better.
Mbappé's first goal was pure instinct: threading the needle with a side-footed volley at the near post after a superb cross from left wing-back Theo Hernandez (8'). The next came on the break as right wing-back Kingsley Coman squared the ball for the perfectly placed Mbappé to fire past a back-pedalling defender - again at the near post (12').
Using his head
Mbappé's third was an unusual for the Paris Saint-Germain star - who along with Messi and Neymar now makes it a trio of 10/10 club members in the PSG attack - as he planted a superbly timed header into the back of the net after a sublime cross from Coman (32') to complete his hat-trick before half-time.
He then turned provider, working a one-two with Karim Benzema for the Real Madrid man's second (59'), before completing his record haul as he burst into the box on a fine pass from former PSG teammate Moussa Diaby and rifling triumphantly home (87'). Mbappé was subbed off by coach Didier Deschamps with minutes to go, receiving an utterly deserved standing ovation from a delirious Parc des Princes.
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