Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi saw their World Cup dreams snuffed out on Saturday as French teenager Kylian Mbappe flew the flag for a new generation in Russia.
Ten goals were scored on a gripping first day of the knockout phase as France progressed to a quarter-final tie against Uruguay but Messi and Ronaldo may have played their last games on football’s biggest stage.
In the first match, France roared back to beat Argentina 4-3, with Mbappe scoring twice.
Later in Sochi, Ronaldo – who started the World Cup with a hat-trick against Spain – was powerless to prevent Portugal slipping out of the tournament as Edinson Cavani scored twice in a 2-1 win to send the European champions home.
Beaten finalists four years ago, Argentina only reached the last 16 by the skin of their teeth after a shambolic group phase and despite a brave effort against France, the age of their players and an unbalanced squad ultimately caught up with them.
As for Ronaldo and Portugal, they did what no other team has managed to in 2018 – score a goal against Uruguay but it was ultimately not enough as Cavani put on a striking masterclass, scoring two fantastic goals.
As a result, the day that started with hopes of a Messi v Ronaldo World Cup showdown in the quarter-finals, ended up with two PSG stars upstaging the all-time greats and sending them home from Russia.
Their elimination from the World Cup on the same day is the kind of stuff that could break the internet.
There was, of course, plenty of humour.
But, just for the hashtag, this one goes down as the best.
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