Attack and defence
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“On 18 December 2022, he fouled Randal Kolo Muani to give away the penalty for France's opening goal in the final, where Argentina eventually won 4–2 in the penalty shoot-out after the match ended 3–3 at extra-time, to win the World Cup.”
- — Wikipedia, Nicolás Otamendi
“Mbappé became only the second player in history to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, scoring three goals against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final.[170] Argentina led 2–0 with just over ten minutes remaining before Mbappé scored twice in two minutes, the second from a volley after playing a one-two.”
- — Wikipedia, Kilian Mbappé
It struck the JC while watching the 2022 World Cup Final that there is a large asymmetry between attack and defence. The final will be remembered for Lionel Messi, yes, but also for 23-year-old Kilian Mbappé’s magnificent hat-trick — the first in a world Cup final since Geoff Hurst’s in 1966.
Compare Mbappé’s performance with his opposite number on the night, Nicolás Otamendi:
How the UK media saw the ratings in the panel to the right.
The common consensus — as reflected in the newspaper’s commentary: Otamendi had a solid game, kept Mbappé quiet for 90% of it, but made one obvious mistake, giving away the penalty that brought France back into the game. Mbappé was mostly invisible for 80 of the 90 minutes of ordinary time, but sparked to life ten minutes from the end, scoring an impressive goal and converting two penalties to make the first world cup final hat trick since 1966.
Yet Otamendi’s average rating was around just over 5; Mbappé’s almost between 9 and perfect.
Interesting note: despite the widespread use of Enhanced Football Intelligence — every player in the tournament was GPS tracked and data exists for number, location and success rate of passes, tackles and touch rates, not one of the ratings made reference to it.
| Media | Otamendi | Mbappé | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guardian | 6 | 9 | Otamendi: Like his team, he had looked comfortable until Kolo Muani sorely exposed him in a one-on-one.
Mbappé: Out of the game until turning it on its head and becoming first final hat-trick scorer since Geoff Hurst. |
| Sky Sports | 6 | 9 | Otamendi: Was playing so well - and then gave away a daft penalty to allow France back into the game.
Mbappé: It felt a false start for 80 minutes but then the Grandmaster produced another work of art. |
| Express | 5 | 9 | Otamendi: Clumsy late penalty cost a straightforward win - the needless arm grapple gave Kolo Muani reason to tumble.
Mbappé: Squeezed his first penalty past Martinez then came alive. Second brilliantly taken, the hat-trick emphatic. |
| Telegraph | 4 | 10 | Otamendi: Stupid mistake to give away the penalty against Muani as the 34-year-old had barely been troubled for 60 minutes by the French attack.
Mbappé: One of the finest World Cup performances in history. Struggling to generate a spark for 60 minutes, then the supercharger came on and he hit a hattrick. |
| Sun | 6 | 9 | Otamendi: His brain-fade moment turned a victory cruise into a desperate fight for survival and opened the door for one of the greatest games of all time.
Mbappé: Zero to hero. Incredible. Was he playing in the first half? Looked like he’d picked the biggest game of his career to have the worst day of his life. Then….remarkable. |
| Average | 5.5 | 9.2 | Otamendi: Good game, one error, but what a doozy.
Mbappé: Not sure he was even playing for an hour and a half, but came right at the end. |
Relative cost
Yes; an anecdote; but a representative one. The ten top-paid defenders in the world earn between £12m and £18m a year.[1] The top paid footballers earn between £20m and £35m, and most are strikers.[2] Not one is a defender.
The point here is not to challenge these ratings, but note how much harder it is to be well-rated as a defender than as an attacker. You can shut the brightest star in football’s firmament out of a world cup final for 80 minutes and get 4; you can be shut out for that time by the centre-back from a and get a ten.