"Devastating in all areas" - Rio Ferdinand suggests France superstar's performance vs Poland was better than Lionel Messi's against Australia
Rio Ferdinand believes Kylian Mbappe's performance in France's win over Poland in the FIFA World Cup was better than Lionel Messi's in Argentina's win over Australia.
The Frenchman scored a wonderful brace against Poland on Sunday, December 4 to take the defending champions to the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Argentina legend Messi scored the opening goal for the South American side. He helped his team register a dominating 2-0 win over Australia. Football pundits were left in awe of the former Barcelona man's performance, hailing it as one of the best in Qatar so far.
Speaking to the BBC after France's sheer domination over their European opponents, Ferdinand said (via the Daily Mail):
''Yesterday, I spoke about Messi as the best performance. Today [Mbappe] was the most explosive performance, devastating in all areas.''
'Today was the most explosive performance'
Rio Ferdinand claims Kylian Mbappe's performance against Poland was better than Lionel Messi's showing against Australia trib.al/KOXZhtu
The Al Thumama Stadium in Qatar was roaring with Mbappe's chants as he broke his idol Cristiano Ronaldo's record of eight goals in the FIFA World Cups.
With five goals in the ongoing edition of the FIFA World Cup, Mbappe now has nine goals in the tournament. He has also scored an extraordinary 16 goals in his last 14 appearances for Les Bleus.
MBAPPE AGAIN 🤯
16 goals in his last 14 games for France 🇫🇷
#FIFAWorldCup https://t.co/h8UdtR8YTw
Mauricio Pochettino on Kylian Mbappe as he takes France to the quarterfinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, equalling Lionel Messi's record
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino was left amazed by the 'fantastic' Kylian Mbappe's performance today.
The forward helped France seal the quarterfinals birth of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He also equaled Messi's record of nine goals in the tournament.
World Cup career goals:
• Kylian Mbappe (9)
• Lionel Messi (9)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (8)
World Cup career knockout goals:
• Kylian Mbappe (5)
• Lionel Messi (1)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (0) https://t.co/cVkX4MOgLP
Mbappe also leads the Golden Boot race with five goals in four games. Trailing him in the race are Messi, Marcus Rashford, Alvaro Morata, Inner Valencia, Cody Gakpo, and Mbappe's fellow teammate Olivier Giroud. They have all scored three goals so far.
Mbappe leading the Golden Boot race #FIFAWorldCup https://t.co/uXDwVwI6mQ
Speaking about Mbappe's performance against Poland, Pochettino said via the Daily Mail:
''It was professional performance for France - job done. When you have Mbappe in your team, today, he did his job fantastic. He's an amazing talent.''
The former Argentina international believes that the Frenchman is a 'nightmare' for the defenders and that it is 'impossible' to stop him on the pitch. He further added:
''He's impossible to stop - the quality, the capacity to hit, the technique is so, so good. It's a nightmare for the full-back. It's impossible.''
France will face England in the quarterfinals of the Qatar showdown.