The showpiece meeting between Argentina and France will see one of the greatest to ever do it battle it out with someone who could be mentioned in the same breath as him in 15 years time.
Messi and Mbappe are the joint top scorers at the current World Cup.
Messi has openly admitted the final will be his last ever World Cup game.
But while there is a 12-year age gap between Messi, 35, and Mbappe, 23, there has been little to separate them at this World Cup.
Or over the last two World Cups for that matter.
Mbappe’s stats don’t go back any further than that, while the current tournament in Qatar is Messi’s fifth time on football’s greatest stage.
Although, despite playing 12 less games at the World Cup, Mbappe has only scored two fewer goals than Messi.
They have history facing each other at the tournament, too.
An incredible round of 16 clash four years ago saw France knock Argentina out 4-3 – Mbappe scoring twice, Messi firing a blank.
Now clubmates at Paris Saint-Germain, the pair are the joint top scorers at this World Cup with five goals in six games.
