New Delhi, July 9 -- At the end of their respective Round of 16 matches, the reactions from Argentina and France players could not be more different.

Kylian Mbappe, the talismanic striker and France captain, smiled and punched defiant fist-pumps as his team beat Paraguay 1-0 to move into the quarterfinal of the FIFA World Cup.

Two days later, defending champions Argentina had to dig themselves out of a massive 2-0 deficit to beat Egypt 3-2 in stoppage time to secure their spot in the final eight. At the end of that match, the captain Lionel Messi, who led the comeback, was in tears.

The top two ranked teams in the world and the 2022 finalists have been made to work much harder than expected. But they showed their style is not without s...