Doha, 19 December 2022 (TDI): The Argentina La Albiceleste faced off against French Les Bleus in the FIFA finals at Lusail Stadium. The match witnessed Argentina defeating France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup after 36 years.
This final was the most thrilling match in the 92-year history of FIFA. It was attended by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron along with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Al-Thani.
Also read: FIFA World Cup: France beats Morocco to reach finals
Argentina’s World Cup victory broke South America’s 20-year World Cup drought since Brazil’s victory in 2002. While, France has lost the World Cup final on penalties for the second time in five World Cups, having been defeated by Italy in 2006.
Match Highlights
Argentina controlled much of the match in the early minutes. Messi scored from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute, giving Argentina 1-0 lead. Angel Di Maria extended Argentina’s lead to 2-0 in the 36th minute after an amazing counterattack.
But, with 10 minutes remaining, Mbappe brought the game back to life by scoring two consecutive goals for France. His goals spectacularly equalized the game.
The match entered extra time, and Messi changed the game in Argentina’s favor when he scored again in the 109th minute. But Mbappe hit another penalty kick, tying the game at 3-3 and necessitating a shootout.
Messi and Mbappe both scored in the third World Cup final penalty shootout. However,a France advanced to become the World Cup champion thanks to Kingsley Coman’s goal.
The Undefeated GOAT
Lionel Messi, a World Cup champion at 35 & a player who can rightly claim his place in the argument as the greatest of all time (GOAT). Messi has finally crowned his glittering career with a much-deserved World Cup trophy.
His list of victories is far too long to summarize. Messi netted seven goals in seven games and became the first player to score in each round of the same World Cup.
He won the Silver Boot for finishing second in the goal-scoring charts. Messi also earned Golden Ball, the tournament’s best player award. He is the first player to win it twice in FIFA history.
Also read: FIFA World Cup: Argentina reaches finals after beating Croatia
Although France played admirably as defending champions, there is no doubt that this FIFA World Cup will be remembered as Messi’s tournament for a long time to come.
One man, one myth, one legend
One man, one myth, one legend; titles tailor-made for France’s star striker, Kylian Mbappe. He is currently the most feared player on the planet. Mbappe’s spectacular performance during the finals will be engraved in gold words in FIFA history.
Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final becoming the first man to do so in 56 years since Geoff Hurst in 1966 final. Mbappe has been acknowledged by the champion himself on Twitter.
Mbappe scored his sixth, seventh and eighth goals of the 2022 tournament, earning him the Golden Boot, an award given to the leading goal-scorer. By doing so, he edged out Lionel Messi, who scored twice in the final himself.
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