France, Argentina Light It Up; Les Bleus Go Through

Whoa! Look who woke up.

In just possibly the best match of this World Cup so far, France outgunned Argentina, 4-3, and advanced to the quarters.

Les Bleus rode the brilliance of Kylian Mbappé while Lionel Messi exits yet again without scoring a goal in the knockout stages of a World Cup.

Maybe a page is turning, here.

 

It's not exactly like Mbappé came outta nowhere.

Dude's been amazing since before he lined up at AC Monaco, and his stock has only risen:

 

Both France and Argentina underwhelmed in the group stage, but at least Les Blue looked like they could turn it up any time they needed.

This was that time.

It was a cracker of a match, starting when Mbappé fired up the jets and left 70 yard of vapor trails until Marcos Rojo realized what he had to do.

At least it'd give Franco Armani a moment to gather himself in light of Mbappé's sudden appearance.

Even his teammates were in awe:

Antoine Griezmann took responsibility and sent La Albiceleste's 'keeper in the wrong direction:

Argentina's response came in the 41st minute with a stunning heatseeker from Ángel Dí Maria.

It was a bitta redemption for him after a laggard showing in the group stage and a no-hoper for Hugo Lloris.

France had more run of play to that point and seemed to be hit pretty hard by the goal.

Argentina sense this and ramped it up after the intermission.

Dudes were rewarded in the 48th minute when Messi fired from close-range and Gabriel Mercado cleaned it up:

That's when no doubt was left that this elimination match was gonna be a barn burner.

The French came storming right back and, eight minutes later, equalized on a money's-worth half-volley from long-range by Benjamin Pavard.

Dude bent it back from the far post into right corner, where Franco Armani could do nothing about it:

Les Bleus were firing on all cylinders now.

They'd go on to twine another pair of goals, featuring none other than the Man of the Match.

His second of the session came after confusion reigned inside the Argentine area. Amidst the chaos, the PSG star found space and let fly:

France's fourth -- and Mbappé's hat trick -- came four minutes later.

Olivier Giroud served up an excellent pass to put him up close and personal with Armani. All that was left to do was wrap it up and celebrate with his mates:

Full marks to Argentina for keeping up the intensity, though.

When all and sundry thought the final score had been written, Sergio Agüero pulled a goal back with a pinpoint header.:

All eyes that had been focused on the action in Kazan had gazed upon the breathlessness this tournament can provide. No one could be certain Argentina wouldn't conjure another miracle finish until they didn't.

With that, the French move on, and a global audience awaits another helping of Mbappé in the quarters.

Who knows if Messi will be one of them. He probably saw enough in this match. Maybe more than enough.