Asfand Sandhela
ISLAMABAD: On Sunday, when Argentina and France compete for the highest prize in sports, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe will square off in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.
The two players from Paris Saint-Germain have been important contributors to their national teams, and their goals have been essential in getting them to the championship game. How do they now compare to one another, though? How does a young upstart who has already won a World Cup fare against a veteran who has won the Ballon d’Or seven times?
Goals of Messi and Mbappe’s Qatar 2022 statistics performances.
2022 FIFA World Cup: Kylian Mbappe vs. Lionel Messi
| Player | Games | Goals | xG |
| Lionel Messi | 6 | 5 | 4.75 |
| Kylian Mbappe | 6 | 5 | 3.46 |
In their six appearances at the 2022 World Cup, Messi and Mbappe scored five goals. They are tied in the race for the Golden Boot tournament.
Messi’s minutes-per-goal ratio and his xG are somewhat greater than Mbappe’s due to Argentina’s triumph over the Netherlands in extra time and on penalties (4.75 to 3.46).
Three of Messi’s five goals during the competition came from the penalty spot. In contrast, all of Mbappe’s goals have come from open play. Mbappe scored two goals against Poland in the round of 16 before tallying three goals in the group stage (one against Australia and two against Denmark).
But the PSG striker could not score against England in the quarterfinal or Morocco in the semifinal, so he appeared frustrated in both contests.
Kylian Mbappe vs Lionel Messi: World Cup 2022 assists
| Player | Games | Assists | xA |
| Lionel Messi | 6 | 3 | 1.63 |
| Kylian Mbappe | 6 | 2 | 1.23 |
At the World Cup, Messi has provided more assists than Mbappe, assisting three Argentina goals in victories over Mexico, the Netherlands, and Croatia.
Both fans and pundits praised his incredible solo run that set up Argentina’s third goal against Croatia in the semi-final, during which he tormented Josko Gvardiol.
Mbappe, on the other hand, has assisted Olivier Giroud on two goals so far in the tournament, once against Poland and once against Australia.
But it should be noted that Messi is also Argentina’s primary set-piece taker, giving him a slight advantage over Mbappe in this area.
Who was better Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi?
| Stat | Lionel Messi | Kylian Mbappe |
| Games played | 6 | 6 |
| Minutes played | 570 | 477 |
| Goals | 5 | 5 |
| xG | 4.75 | 3.76 |
| Assists | 3 | 2 |
| Shots | 27 | 25 |
| Shots on target | 14 | 11 |
| Chances created | 18 | 11 |
| Dribbles completed | 15 | 21 |
| Successful passes (final 3rd) | 121 | 83 |
The statistics initially give the impression that Messi has had a slightly superior World Cup to Mbappe.
Messi has more assists, more shots, a higher xG, more chances created, and more successful passes into the opposition half than Ronaldo, even though the two have scored the same number of goals in the tournament.
As the captain of the national team, Messi is expected to show the leadership required of him by scoring in the last 16, quarterfinal, and semifinal. In contrast, Mbappe has only scored once in the knockout stage and failed to score in either the quarterfinal or semifinal.
Nevertheless, despite not scoring as frequently as he would have liked in the knockout stage, Mbappe has looked incredibly dangerous for France. His dribbling statistics during the competition are indeed alarming, and it has become evident that not even the best defenders in the world are completely at ease facing him. Naturally, the statistics won’t matter when the stars align on Sunday because whoever wins the trophy can say without a doubt that they had the better tournament.
