Messi’s heel: At 39 and in his sixth World Cup, the Argentine alchemist Lionel Messi has set the competition’s all-time goal-scoring record with 18. But on his aging heels is France’s talisman Kylian Mbappé, who is but two goals behind in only his third World Cup. The 27-year-old will almost surely surpass Messi either in the coming days or in four years. This is soccer’s carbon copy of tennis, in which Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal reigned supreme for two decades only to see the slightly younger Novak Djokovic shatter both of their Grand Slam records. Back to soccer and the World Cup, bear this in mind. While the Messi machine represents the near entirety of Argentina’s forward-thrusting power, Mbappé has friends and allies in the middle and up front. If he stalls, others can come to France’s rescue. Messi has considerably less help, which on paper puts France in the driver’s seat — unless, that is, an outsider pounces, pushing both the French and Argentine stars to the side of the road.