When the World Cup holds up a mirror to Kylian Mbappe, it’s as if he sees Lionel Messi. Upon reflection, both their tournaments can appear identical. It’s uncanny. When Messi scores, Mbappe follows. It’s like Christopher Nolan’s film The Prestige. They are football’s Robert Angier and Alfred Borden. Rival magicians attempting to one-up each other. Messi matching Mbappe and vice-versa. Eight goals each as the audience gasps in astonishment. When one misses, the other does too, as if they are bound together.In Atlanta, Messi stepped up to take a penalty against Egypt. Then, in Foxboro, Mbappe was also awarded one against Morocco. Everyone expected a goal even from Messi who failed to convert one against Austria earlier in the tournament. The goalkeepers Mostafa Shobeir and Yassine Bounou not only made saves from both of them. They made Messi and Mbappe, fleetingly, look mortal.Alas, it didn’t last long. Messi ensured his name appeared on the halo screen at the Mercedes Benz stadium. Mbappe’s flashed up at the Gillette and Argentina and France continued to track each other on opposite sides of the bracket. For now, the former PSG teammates remain on a collision course to meet in the final as happened in Qatar four years ago when Mbappe scored a hat-trick and, somehow, Messi still prevailed.“Leo always scores. He always has, he always will,” Mbappe said. “If I focused on watching what Leo scores, I would have to work even harder. So no, I don’t pay attention to what (Messi) does at all. I’m only thinking about helping my team.”If Mbappe did pay closer attention, he’d notice maybe they aren’t so similar after all. Messi’s World Cup has largely been about high performance in chaos. Mbappe has, on the other hand, been able to operate in near complete serenity. Everything, particularly since the knockout stages began, has looked hard for Argentina. For France, it has been the opposite. The World Cup has, by contrast, come much easier to them.