France’s Kylian Mbappe outshone Lionel Messi in the round of 16 as France beat Argentina 4-3 in episode 18 of Project Russia.
Free-Kick: Goodbye Messi, Ronaldo; Enter ‘teenage sensation’ Kylian Mbappe
The guys respond to your tweets about Brazil-Mexico, Simeone for Argentina, Uruguay’s World Cup chances and Mbappe’s performance against Cavani’s.
Kylian Mbappe and Christian Pulisic are the headline names on a 100-player list for the 2018 Golden Boy, published by the award’s founders Tuttosport.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe is the clear front-runner to become the first player to retain the award — given to the best player under the age of 21 in Europe — he won in 2017, having scored three goals on France’s run to the World Cup quarterfinals and produced a spectacular performance to eliminate Lionel Messi’s Argentina in a seven-goal thriller in Kazan on Saturday.
United States international Pulisic was denied the opportunity to compete at the World Cup but enjoyed a strong season with Borussia Dortmund, establishing himself as a regular starter in the Bundesliga and registering four goals and five assists in 32 appearances.
AC Milan striker Patrick Cutrone, who scored 10 goals in 28 Serie A appearances last season, and Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who earned a place in England’s World Cup squad after competing in the Champions League final, were also included in the list.
The award will be selected by an international panel of journalists, and there is no indication that they must choose from the 100 players listed by Tuttosport for its fan poll.
There is a heavy English presence on the 100-person list, with Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-Odoi, Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden, Manchester United’s on-loan defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Tottenham midfielder Marcus Edwards, Everton midfielder Tom Davies, Arsenal academy graduates Stephy Mavididi, Reiss Nelson and Jeff Reine-Adelaide as well as Ben Woodburn and Herbie Kane of Liverpool all included.
The most surprising omission is Chelsea playmaker Mason Mount, who failed to make the long list despite registering 14 goals and nine assists on loan at Vitesse last season.
Fulham sensation Ryan Sessegnon was ineligible, as youngsters have to be contracted to a club in the top tier of a European league to be considered.
From the Premier League, City academy trio Brahim Diaz, Manu Garcia and Lukas Nmecha are also included, while United’s summer signing Diogo Dalot makes the cut along with new teammate Angel Gomes. Tottenham defender Juan Foyth is also on the list.
Other notable names on the long list are Zinedine Zidane’s son Luca, who plays for Real Madrid, as well as Ajax defender Matthijs De Ligt and new Roma signing Justin Kluivert.
The Golden Boy award has been handed out annually since 2003, when Rafael van der Vaart claimed the inaugural prize. Winners since have included Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Aguero, Paul Pogba and Isco. Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling are the only Englishmen to receive the gong.
The list in full:
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Carles Alena (Barcelona)
Jose Maria Amo (Sevilla Atletico)
Angel Gomes (Manchester United)
Mirko Antonucci (Roma)
Houssem Aouar (Lyon)
Giorgi Arabidze (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Joaquin Ardaiz (Royal Antwerp)
Ismail Azzaoui (Willem II)
Musa Barrow (Atalanta)
Fabian Benko (Bayern Munich)
Sander Berge (Racing Genk)
Justin Bijlow (Feyenoord)
Bilal Boutobba (Sevilla)
Brahim Diaz (Manchester City)
Lorenzo Callegari (Paris Saint-Germain)
Lazar Carevic (Barcelona)
Daniele Collinge (Stuttgart)
Patrick Cutrone (AC Milan)
Dani Olmo (Dinamo Zagreb)
Tom Davies (Everton)
Matthijs De Ligt (Ajax)
Abdou Diakhate (Fiorentina)
Krepin Diatta (Club Brugge)
Javairo Dilrosun (Hertha Berlin)
Diogo Dalot (Manchester United)
Moussa Djenepo (Standard Liege)
Ritsu Doan (Groningen)
Mamadou Doucoure (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Odsonne Edouard (Celtic)
Marcus Edwards (Tottenham)
Sergei Eremenko (Spartak Moscow)
Zackarias Faour (Osters)
Francisco Feuillassier (Real Madrid)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Mamadou Fofana (Alanyaspor)
Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Crystal Palace)
Juan Foyth (Tottenham)
Dennis Geiger (Hoffenheim)
Giorgos Giannoutsos (AEK Athens)
Ianis Hagi (Viitorul Constanta)
Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid)
Amadou Haidara (Red Bull Salzburg)
Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea)
Nanitamo Ikone (Montpellier)
Alexander Isak (Borussia Dortmund)
Arnel Jakupovic (Juventus)
Dejan Joveljic (Red Star Belgrade)
Herbie Kane (Liverpool)
Yann Karamoh (Inter Milan)
Teun Koopmeiners (AZ Alkmaar)
Han Kwang-Song (Cagliari)
Alban Lafont (Toulouse)
Leandrinho (Napoli)
Dimitris Limnios (PAOK)
Justin Kluivert (Roma)
Lincoln (Gremio)
Jordan Lotomba (Young Boys)
Davor Lovren (Fortuna Dusseldorf)
Sandi Lovric (Sturm Graz)
Mikhail Lysov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Arne Maier (Hertha Berlin)
Dennis Man (Steaua Bucharest)
Manu Garcia (Manchester City)
Faitout Maouassa (Rennes)
Mauro Junior (PSV Eindhoven)
Stephy Mavididi (Arsenal)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Weston McKennie (Schalke)
Jan Mlakar (Maribor)
Nikola Moro (Dinamo Zagreb)
Reiss Nelson (Arsenal)
Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City)
Martin Odegaard (Heerenveen)
Abdulkadir Omur (Trabzonspor)
Matej Oravec (Spartak Trnava)
Reece Oxford (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Pedro Pereira (Genoa)
Pietro Pellegri (Monaco)
Alejandro Pozo (Sevilla)
Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)
Jeff Reine-Adelaide (Arsenal)
Panagiotis Retsos (Bayer Leverkusen)
Rui Pedro (Boavista)
Yusuf Sari (Marseille)
Ismaila Sarr (Rennes)
Malang Sarr (Nice)
Borna Sosa (Dinamo Zagreb)
Moussa Sylla (Monaco)
Antonio Moya Vega (Atletico Madrid)
Idrissa Toure (Werder Bremen)
Dayot Upamecano (RB Leipzig)
Moussa Wague (KAS Eupen)
Chris Willock (Benfica)
Ben Woodburn (Liverpool)
Rafik Zekhnini (Rosenborg)
Andi Zeqiri (Lausanne)
Baris Zeren (Galatasaray)
Luca Zidane (Real Madrid)
Zekhnini (Rosenborg)
Andi Zeqiri (Lausanne)
Baris Zeren (Galatasaray)
Luca Zidane (Real Madrid)
Liam is ESPN FC’s Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @Liam_Twomey.
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