Such was the level of the 19-year-old's performance in Kazan that he equalled a record set by the legendary Pele some 60 years ago.
Whilst few would deny that he is not yet on the same level as the Samba star, the way in which to grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck from the off and left his mark without being overawed in one of the biggest games of his career was a testament to the level-headedness and and attitude of the PSG man.
At the other end of the pitch, five-time World Player of the Year Messi was left unable to match the man 12 years his younger as he once again saw his World Cup dream collapse before his very eyes.
Mbappe has established himself as a key player for France since making his debut just a year ago.
That appearance made him the second youngest player to play for 'Les Bleus', whilst his goal in the 1-0 win over Peru made him France's youngest ever World Cup goalscorer.
This is a young player that is rated incredibly higly in 'L'Hexagone', with comparisons to the legendary Ronaldo and Thierry Henry not uncommon in his fledgling career to date.
His latest star turn will have done his burgeoning reputation no harm, but what it also showed is that there is much more to his game than simply goals.
Despite it still being early doors in his career, Mbappe has shown he is no one-trick pony by moving from playing through the middle as a striker to out on the right in a variety of systems, invariably impressing.
A constant outlet, Mbappe took the pressure off his team-mates by pinning Nicolas Tagliafico back, with his electric pace and close control also successfully drawing the Argentines into a couple of fouls worthy of yellow cards to go with the penalty.
Mbappe's former coaches at AS Bondby have often spoken about his immense talent, but it was his maturity which shone through at the Kazan Arena.
With Messi set to turn 35 by the time the 2022 World Cup comes around, there is no guarantee that he or Argentina will be involved. Mbappe, on the other hand, will be 23 and on Saturday's performance, there is no reason why he cannot step into the shoes vacated by the diminutive genius' absence.