RAVI K YADAV

I watched today’s game from a slightly different angle than usual: I was working it.

My son and I went out to MetLife — or New York New Jersey Stadium, as it’s been rebranded for the tournament — and before I could be a fan, I was a volunteer, helping fans find their gates. It’s a small job that turns out to matter a lot when a packed house all arrives at once under a bright, hot sun. By kickoff the place was full and the temperature was climbing, and I finally got to settle in next to my son for the main event: mighty France against unpredictable Senegal.

For a long stretch, the mighty side did not look like one. France was average, maybe below it. Barcelona defender Koundé was struggling down the right. Mbappé and Dembélé kept running into the same wall — Senegal’s defense simply would not give them a way through. Senegal, for their part, won the ball often enough, but their attacks were short-lived and almost always routed through Sadio Mané. Take Mané out of the move and the move tended to fizzle.

The second half is where France remembered who they were. What struck me is how they did it. They don’t play the Argentina game — that patient, narrow, Messi-dribbling-slowly-past-everyone style where the gaps are surgical. France went the other way: wider, faster, looking for the quick counter. Once they leaned into that, Mbappé found space, and soon enough he found the net.

Then a substitution changed the temperature again. Barcola came on for Dembélé with fresh legs and fresh intent, and you could feel the attack wake up — within two minutes of stepping on, he made it 2-0.

Senegal never stopped. They came close — genuinely, heart-in-mouth close on more than one occasion — but France’s defense kept getting a body in the way at the last moment. In extra time Senegal finally got their reward through a fine Mbaye finish. And then, almost insultingly fast, Mbappé answered in the very next minute with a powerful strike from around thirty yards.

That last goal is the one I keep thinking about, because of where Mbappé has been lately. For a string of games the goals just wouldn’t come — missing the target entirely, or rattling the bar and walking away with nothing. Even today he was still laboring to outrun defenders. But the control was back. He managed the ball comfortably, picked his moment, and put it on target instead of past it. His running looked composed rather than frantic. He looks to be rounding into shape at exactly the right time.

The other result of the day was its own master class. Argentina beat Algeria, and Messi scored his first World Cup hat-trick. Different sport, almost. Where Mbappé wins with speed and space, Messi wins with anticipation — reading the ball a half-second before everyone else and threading it through narrow gaps between two and three defenders like the crowd isn’t even there. The reflexes, the ability to find a seam in traffic — at this stage of his career it’s still remarkable, and it makes Argentina a formidable problem for whoever draws them.

Which leaves the obvious question hanging over the rest of the group stage: we’ve now seen what Mbappé and Messi are bringing. It’s yet to be seen what Ronaldo will.

More soon.