Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have been the undoubted stars of the World Cup and their performances have disproved a theory Jamie Carragher shared earlier this year.
The Paris Saint-Germain teammates go into Sunday’s final between Argentina and France level as the joint top scorers in the tournament, with five each. Messi and Mbappe are both their side’s talisman and will be crucial to determining the result at the Lusail Stadium.
Their success is nothing unexpected, nor is their respective style of play. Both are in the team for their attacking talents, but their defensive contributions and managers Lionel Scaloni and Didier Deschamps are happy to accommodate them.
There has been much discussion over recent years about Cristiano Ronaldo ’s reluctance to adhere to team pressing strategies. But Messi and Mbappe have also taken a similar approach in Qatar, focusing on bursts of energy with the ball, rather than chasing it when out of possession.
Stats obtained by Lord Ping reveal that Messi has walked the most out of any player at the World Cup. The 35-year-old has walked 30.61km, out of a total of 53.11km distance covered. That means he has walked for 57 per cent of the time.
Mbappe comes in second place, with figures of 22.85km from his 44.54km covered, which equates to 51 per cent walking time. Ronaldo’s Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Morocco, and he played fewer minutes, but he still racked up 13.35km of walking in 30.5km overall, which is 43 per cent.
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Argentina and France have reached the final thanks to the goals and assists of their star players. Their teammates have been forced to pick up some of the slack, but clearly it is a workable approach – and one which goes against Carragher’s reasoning.
Back in February, the former Liverpool defender discussed his belief that successful teams need all 11 players pulling in the same direction. He believes that, in modern football, pressing is crucially important and even star forwards need to contribute.
"We were talking last night about Real Madrid, and can Real Madrid really play like that away at PSG - I just think this is the way the game is now and you have to perform like that, it has to be high energy," Carragher said.
"That’s why at times this season I’ve… looked at the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo for Manchester United or Lionel Messi at PSG.
"[They’re] two of the best players I’ve probably ever seen, but to win the big trophies I don’t think you can carry players and say they’re not going to work hard or they’re not going to press off the ball."
Messi has been allowed to walk when Argentina are out of possession because the likes of Rodrigo de Paul, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernandez have picked up the slack behind him. Similarly, Antoine Griezmann has performed the roles of two players for France, allowing Mbappe to conserve energy and await counter-attacking opportunities.
