Martinez-Mbappe rivalry takes backseat as Argentine goalie consoles French star

The Martinez-Mbappe rivalry has been in focus since Argentina and France reached the finals. Last week, Martinez was seen slamming Mbappe noting that Mbappe knows nothing about football.

For the uninitiated, Mbappe had previously commented that European nations were better prepared for the world cup than South American teams owing to the fact that they regularly play against each other in high-level competitions. Slamming him, Martinez said, when you don’t have this experience, it may be better not to talk about it.

Even on the field, the rivalry seemed to spark with Martinez missing two hits by Mbappe in the 80th and 81st minutes. The French footballer then completed his hat-trick in the 118th minute on the penalty. But Martinez had the last laugh as he saved another spot kick to help his side to victory.

However, Argentina winning the World Cup could not outshine Mbappe’s dazzle. And the rivalry between them took a back seat when the Argentine goalie was seen coming down to console dejected Mabappe.

Watch Martinez consoling Mbappe:

Mbappe won the World Cup Golden Boot award with eight goals after scoring a hat-trick in Sunday’s final defeat by Argentina on penalties following a 3-3 draw. He became just the second man to score three times in a World Cup final after England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966 and finished one goal ahead of Lionel Messi, named as the tournament’s best player.

The 23-year-old has scored 12 World Cup goals in 14 matches and is level with Brazil legend Pele in sixth on the all-time list.

Mbappe is only the second player to find the target in successive World Cup finals after Vava, who scored in Brazil’s wins in 1958 and 1962.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward’s four goals in World Cup finals are also the most in history. Throughout the tournament, he showed off his brilliance to prove that he is the next great thing in the world of football.