Kyilan Mbappe
Mbappe's wonder-strike tops our favourite goals from Qatar 2022
That amazing World Cup final between Argentina and France on Sunday at the Lusail Stadium in Doha that ended 3-3 before the South Americans won on penalties also featured two of the best goals of the tournament.
In fact Kyilan Mbappe's astounding volley from the edge of the box is also our favourite goal of the tournament, and it is arguably the best individual goal ever scored in a World Cup final. Thinking back on famous World Cup final goals, there's the one Brazil scored in 1970, with the captain Carlos Alberto finishing off a sweeping team move after being laid on by Pele. But nothing like the individual skill and execution it took, in that moment with so much riding on it, for Mbappe's second.
Read more: Mbappé electrifies in World Cup epic, ends up on losing side
Mbappe is a player who seems to have made a habit of being mentioned in the same breath as Pele, ever since he broke through in Russia 2018 to become the first teenager since the great Brazilian to score in the knockout stages of the World Cup, including the final.
And we have his stupendous equaliser against Argentina on Sunday down as the best individual goal in a World Cup final since Pele's strike in 1958 against hosts Sweden, that Brazil won 5-2 to win their first World Cup. In that game, Brazil were already up 2-1 when Pele receives a ball in the box, outrageously flicks it over the defender marking him and volleys home.
So with Mbappe a clear number one, here are the other goals we really loved from this year's edition. In choosing them, we valued the moment, the importance of the goal in the overall context of the match as much as the execution, so you won't find goals like, say, the one South Korea scored at 4-0 down v Brazil on this list. They are in no particular order though.
2 years ago