Doha | After he scored yet another goal and carried France to yet another World Cup victory, Kylian Mbappé raced over to the sideline and held out one finger toward a television camera. As he made a sly grin, he held out another finger and then saluted with both – one for each goal he scored in France’s 3-1 victory over Poland in its round of 16 game on Sunday (Monday AEDT) at Al Thumama Stadium.

It was a moment of brilliance, fun and brashness that exemplified so much about the 23-year-old French superstar who had said he wanted to become a national icon, lead his country to another World Cup title and supplant Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as world player of the year.