Mbappé’s second straight World Cup final appearance could land him in ‘another category’

Kylian Mbappé’s World Cup legacy is starting to mirror that of a legend or, better yet, a king.

The 23-year-old French phenom is rewriting the history books by reaching his second FIFA World Cup final in as many tries after France beat Morocco 2-0 in Wednesday’s semi-final to punch their ticket to Sunday’s big match against Argentina.

Mbappé is replicating the trajectory of a football legend who, in his youth days, was the only player to ever be part of a team that reached two straight World Cup finals back-to-back in his first two chances.

Seventeen-year-old Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé, played a pivotal role for a Brazil squad that claimed its first World Cup title in 1958 and was also a member of the team that won a second trophy in 1962.

Mbappé was only two years older than Pelé when he won his first World Cup title with France in 2018 as a 19-year-old and he will try to replicate a two-for-two start to add to his World Cup legacy on Sunday.

Both players, in their first World Cup appearances, were also the first teenagers to score multiple goals in a World Cup match, a feat that took 60 years for anyone to replicate, highlighting the rarity of the achievement.

"It's flattering to be the second one after Pelé,” said Mbappé after scoring twice in a France 4-3 round-of-16 win over Argentina in 2018. “But let's put things into context – Pelé is in another category.”

There is no questioning Pelé’s legacy. As the only three-time World Cup champion in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and one of the most prolific strikers soccer has ever seen, his impact on the sport might only be comparable to the impact of superstars that played different sports like the NBA’s Michael Jordan and the NHL’s Wayne Gretzky.

That is not to say that others haven’t approached Pelé’s status. Argentina’s Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi belong in the conversation of top soccer player of all time, just like there is a case for names like Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Eusébio, France’s Zinedine Zidane, Germany’s Lothar Matthaus, amongst others.

But few players have been able to emulate Pelé’s staggering international success at such a young age – until Mbappé burst onto the scene.

Pelé scored six goals in 1958 and then followed that up with only one goal in each of his two following appearances – they were marked by nagging injuries – before going off in 1970 for four goals and one final title.

Mbappé scored four goals in 2018 and one-upped himself this year in Qatar to score five goals with one final match to go, sharing the top of the Golden Boot race with Messi.

That’s a total of nine goals in two World Cup appearances for the Frenchman who shows no signs of stopping. Nobody would be surprised at this point if he eventually matched or surpassed Pelé’s total of 12 World Cup scores.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward can start cementing his status as soccer’s best young superstar on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT when defending champion France faces Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final in Qatar. You can watch the action live across the TSN Network, TSN.ca or the TSN App.