France were rocked by a succession of injuries in the run-up to the tournament in Qatar.

Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kanté were already missing when recent Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema pulled out on the eve of the competition.

First-choice No.9 Benzema was then joined on the sidelines by Christopher Nkunku and Lucas Hernandez. But with Mbappé fit and firing, France have always had a chance.

Mbappé the goal-machine

Mbappé came into the World Cup in blistering form, scoring 19 goals in 20 games in all competitions for PSG during the first half of the season. With five assists for good measure, the 23-year-old had a goal-involvement every 70 minutes he played.

Watch: Mbappé hit a hat-trick as PSG thrashed Lille 7-1 in August

He didn't even do so from his favoured position. With Edinson Cavani having long since left the Parc des Princes and Mauro Icardi allowed to leave on loan to Galatasaray at the start of the season, Paris have lacked a target man, so Mbappé has led the line, with Neymar Jr. and Lionel Messi tucked in behind him.

Different roles

"Different things are asked of me here than at my club," he said after scoring a brace against Austria in September, having lined up on the left with Olivier Giroud up front. "I have a lot more freedom here. The coach [Didier Deschamps] knows he has a No.9 like Oliv who occupies the defence, and I can move around and drop into space."

If Mbappé would rather play off a striker he could have fooled onlookers with his opening goal in Qatar - a towering header from and Ousmane Dembélé cross - but his range of goals and assists, his combination of speed and speed of thought, have made him undefendable.

Mbappé teed up Giroud for the final goal in a 4-1 win with a left-footed cross, and then added a brace in a 2-1 win over Denmark - avenging defeats home and away in the UEFA Nations League in 2022. His first was a right-footed finish from close range after a neat one-two with Lucas' brother and depute at left-back Theo Hernandez; his second an opportunistic conversion at the back post.

Mbappé had a rare day off when France were beaten by Tunisia - Montpellier Hérault SC's Wahbi Khazri getting the only goal of the game - but les Bleus had already qualified from Group D anyway.

The Mbappé Show

France vs. Poland in the last 16 was billed as Mbappé vs. Robert Lewandowski, but it quickly turned into the Mbappé show. The PSG star slipped a through-ball to Giroud to open the scoring, and then hit two himself - a pair of more familiar-looking strikes with which he cut inside his marker before rifling home.

Worryingly for his opponents, Mbappé's France teammates don't even think he's hit his stride.

"Kylian's obviously the best striker I've played with in my whole career," Giroud said recently. "He's an amazing player and the scary thing is that he's still young and is only going to improve.

"We've still not seen the best of him, and I hope it'll come soon because we know that he's going to break all the records. Right from the beginning of this competition he's been crucial for us, very decisive and competitive. He's unbelievable."

Quite how prolific might take a second reading. With five goals and two assists he is the top scorer in Qatar, two strikes clear of a cluster which includes Giroud and PSG teammate Messi. Whilst he needed 70 minutes per goal or assist for PSG, Mbappé has only needed 42 minutes in Qatar.

Place in history

He has also needed barely any time to pull onto 33 goals for his country. Mbappé has pulled two goals clear of a certain Zinédine Zidane as the seventh-highest scorer in the history of the France national team. He is still only 23.

England lie in wait for France in their quarter-final at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Saturday, and many column inches in the UK have been dedicated to what combination of right-backs might stop him - Kyle Walker on the right of a back four; Walker in a back three with either Kieran Trippier or Trent Alexander-Arnold up ahead. But the truth is that there is no secret sauce.

Much has been made of Walker's pace, and how he might be the only full-back in the world capable of keeping up with Mbappé, but the Frenchman's record for PSG against Walker's club Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League reads: five games played, three goals scored, plus one assist.

Red carpet

"We respect that he is a good player in good form, but I'm not going to roll out a red carpet for him and tell him to go and score," Walker said ahead of the game.

"I'm representing my country at the quarter-final of a World Cup, it's do or die really. If we lose, we go home. He's not going to stand in my way of hopefully winning a World Cup for my country."

The problem for Walker is that Mbappé might well do exactly that, and he doesn't need a red carpet rolled out for him make the difference on Saturday.