“Mbappe is the best in the world and I want him to prove that” - France star sends indirect warning to Lionel Messi ahead of Argentina showdown

France's Kylian Mbappe and Argentina's Lionel Messi will compete to be crowned world champions on Sunday, 18 December. Despite being club teammates at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), both superstars will now look to give it their all for their country and win the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Les Bleus star Aurelien Tchouameni, who has been in spectacular form during the tournament in Qatar, sent a warning to Messi after Didier Deschamps' team earned a 2-0 win against Morocco in the semi-final.

Tchouameni told Radio Marca:

“For me, Mbappé is the best in the world & I want him to prove that in the next match.”

Both Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi have been in spectacular form during the tournament in Qatar.

Messi has scored five goals and provided three assists so far and is jointly tied with Mbappe for the race for the Golden Boot.

Can Argentina and Lionel Messi exact revenge on Kylian Mbappe and France?

France vs. Morocco: Semi Final - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

France came out triumphant when they faced Argentina in 2018. Kylian Mbappe scored a brace in the 4-3 Round of 16 win. The stakes, however, are even higher this time.

Lionel Messi and Co. exacted perfect revenge when they defeated Croatia by a scoreline of 3-0 in the semi-final. Vatreni won by the same scoreline when the two sides met in 2018.

Didier Deschamps provided a fair assessment of La Albiceleste and Messi ahead of the FIFA World Cup rematch between the two sides after four years. He said (via The Independent):

“He is one of the best players in the world and he has shown that, so of course we are going to try and counter Messi’s threat and stop him influencing the game and Argentina will try and stop the influence of some of my players."

Deschamps added:

“This Argentina side is different to the one we played four years ago. We have two sides with a great deal of quality and it will be up to key players to make a difference, maybe the team that makes fewest mistakes will win the game.”