When Argentina captain Messi holds the World Cup, the symbol of championship honor, runner-up France's blue soldiers can only secretly cry in the corner.
In the final between France and Argentina, Mbappe, a talented striker who is about to turn 24, scored a "hat-trick", pulling the Gallic Roosters back from the brink of defeat twice in regular time and extra time, and also surviving the penalty shootout for France.
With Griezmann and Giroud substituted in the first half, Mbappe, as the team's leading penalty taker, helped France take the lead in the shootout and decisively took the penalty.
Unfortunately, the teammates who played after that were not lucky enough, and in the end, France lost on penalties.
In this cup, Mbappe's excellent form, scoring 8 goals in 7 games, won the "Golden Boot" award of this World Cup, and became the first French player to win this award in 64 years.
France spent the first 70 minutes of the final on the back foot.
Coach Didier Deschamps believes the team as a whole were not at their best, especially against such a strong opponent.
Still, he stood by the young players he replaced.
"Some of the young players lacked international experience, but they injected fresh energy into the team and kept the game in suspense until the end."
As Deschamps said, the French rookies coming off the bench are almost a "post-95" : Comant, Marcus Thuram, Mouani, Fofana, and the oldest is only 26 years old.
Kamavinga, who went head-to-head with Messi several times in extra time, was born in 2002 and turned 20 last month.
If you include striker Dembele born in 1997, full-back Theo Hernandez, centre-backs Upamecano and Conte born in 1998, defensive midfielder Chuameni born in 2000, and long-established Kympo Mbappe, the French team is on the rise in quality and experience.
Losing the World Cup every four years is regrettable, but players more often have to improve their inner strength through the league.
In this regard, the young talent of the French team is in full swing.
For this reason, Deschamps remains optimistic about the future of the French team. "
French football is deep and has always had a lot of young players with talent, potential and ability. What we need to do is build successful teams.
In four years, maybe some of the players are older now, but there will still be young players coming into the picture. I am optimistic about the future of the team."
