France forward Kylian Mbappe has described comparisons to Pele as “flattering” but insists that the Brazil legend is in “another category” altogether.
The 19-year-old scored a brace as Les Bleus clinched an emphatic 4-3 win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup on Saturday.
Mbappe’s two-goal haul has made him the first teenager to score twice in a World Cup match since Pele managed the feat against Sweden in the 1958 final.
“I’m very happy and it’s flattering to be the second teenager [to score twice in a World Cup game] after Pele but let’s put things in context: Pele is another category,” the Paris Saint-Germain star told reporters after the game. “But it’s good to be among these people.
“As I’ve already and always said, at a World Cup you have all the top-level players, so it’s an opportunity to show what you can do and what your abilities are. There’s no better place than a World Cup.”
Mbappe has also become the first teenager to score multiple goals in a World Cup tournament since Michael Owen for England in 1998.