Argentina were crowned World Cup champions for the third time as Lionel Messi inspired the Copa America champions to glory, after winning a penalty shootout at the end of the spectacular final against France in Qatar on Sunday.
World Cup 2022: News and Features | bracket | consequences
Kylian Mbappe became the second player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup finals, overtaking Messi’s two goals in the match, but despite his goals helping France make it 3-3 after extra time, penalties missed by Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchoameni meant Argentina. Celebrate victory in Lusail.
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1. Messi caps an incredible career by winning the World Cup
Lionel Messi’s amazing career is now complete. The Argentina captain finally added a World Cup winners’ medal to all of his Champions League, domestic championships, cups and the Copa America he won with Argentina in 2021.
And he did it elegantly. Two goals in a dramatic final, as well as a successful penalty in the shootout, meant that Messi did everything in his power to achieve the long-awaited glory for Argentina. He was also awarded the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament.
Will he end the debate about goats? Mostly not. There will always be those who prefer Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Maradona and Pele to the 35-year-old, but now that World Cup wins are on his list of honours, you can bet Messi won’t care about anything. The endless debate about who is truly the greatest of all time.
But the most important thing for Messi is that no one can point to the missing big trophy from his career. Not only has he lifted it now, but he has led and inspired Argentina to success, just as Maradona did in Mexico in 1986.
Qatar 2022 was Messi’s tournament. He’s scored in every game but the first – the group-stage win over Poland when Wojciech Szczesny saved him from the penalty spot – and he’s lived up to every time Argentina needed him to make a difference.
Great goals against Mexico and Australia, assists by Nahuel Molina and Julian Alvarez against the Netherlands and Croatia respectively, and in the final against France, he put Argentina on their way to victory by scoring a penalty in the first half.
It was the perfect tournament for Messi in every sense of the word. The perfect decoration for a peerless career.
2. Mbappe’s brilliance was not enough for France
Kylian Mbappe has already won the World Cup once with France, and almost won a second time on his own against Argentina.
His two goals in the space of 97 seconds in the last ten minutes of the match gave France a lifeline after it had trailed 2-0 since the first half, then the Paris Saint-Germain star added a third goal to achieve a hat-trick. extra time. But despite Mbappe’s heroics – he also scored the penalty in the shootout – France could not become the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1962.
With the France team stricken with a virus in the build-up to the match, it was quite an achievement for Les Bleus to be able to fight back from two goals down to take the match to penalties. Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Dayo Upamecano, Adrien Rabiot and Kingsley Coman were unable to train on Friday, and three of them – Varane, Upamecano and Rabiot – started the match.
The lack of energy was evident for most of the game until Mbappe gave them hope with an 80th-minute penalty. They were very poor in the first half with Deschamps replacing Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele before half-time and it didn’t improve much in the second half. Even Antoine Griezmann, one of the tournament’s players, failed to follow up with Deschamps being substituted 20 minutes from time.
The final is when the great players show up and make the difference, but France’s top stars vanished until Mbappe burst to life on the 80th minute. But despite almost leading his team to glory, Mbappe couldn’t take France to the finish line. He now has the unenviable distinction of scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup final and still ends up on the losing side.
3. A victory for Argentina is a victory for the entire continent
Argentina ended South America’s 20-year wait to win the World Cup by defeating defending champions France in Qatar.
No South American team has lifted the trophy since Brazil won their fifth World Cup in 2002, but by doing so, Argentina ended European dominance of the tournament. Italy, Spain, Germany and France have all won the World Cup since a South American country has won and only Argentina – in 2014 – has reached the final since 2002.
But with so many of the game’s top players coming from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia, having the South American continent once again a world champion is a huge morale boost.
And with the rights to host the 2030 World Cup still being determined, the impact Argentina have made on and off the pitch in Qatar should help the South American challenge to host the tournament within eight years.
The South American fans have been the biggest squad in Qatar so far. It’s a very passionate football region, and with Argentina and Uruguay potentially co-hosting the Centenary World Cup in 2030 – 100 years after the latter won 4-2 in their inaugural final as hosts in Montevideo – Messi’s side helped him win that tournament.
Player ratings (1 = worst, 10 = best)
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez 8; Nahuel Molina 6, Christian Romero 7, Nicolas Otamendi 6, Nicolás Tagliafico 7; Enzo Fernandez 8, Rodrigo de Paul 8, Alexis McAllister 8; Lionel Messi 8 Julian Alvarez 7 Angel Di Maria 8.
SubsMarcos Acuna 6, Gonzalo Montiel 6, Leandro Paredes 6, Lautaro Martinez 6, German Pezzella 6, Paulo Dybala 6.
France: Hugo Lloris 7; Jules Conde 4, Raphael Varane 6, Dayot Upamecano 5, Theo Hernandez 5; Aurelien Tchouameni 6, Adrien Rabiot 6; Ousmane Dembele 3, Antoine Griezmann 5, Kylian Mbappe 9; Oliver Giraud 4.
Submarines: Marcos Thuram 7, Randall Kolo Mwani 8, Kingsley Coman 6, Eduardo Camavinga 6, Youssouf Fofana 6, Ibrahima Konate 6, Axel Disasi 6.
The best and worst performers
The best: Kylian Mbappe
He’s been quiet throughout most of the game, but the top guys deliver results when it counts. Mbappe turned the World Cup final on its head by scoring twice in the space of 90 seconds in the dying minutes before scoring a hat-trick in a penalty shootout in extra time.
Worst: Ousmane Dembele
He missed the penalty kick in Argentina’s opener with a clumsy challenge on Di Maria. He did not contribute anything positive and was worse than Jules Condé on the right wing of France.
Highlights and notable moments
After his team fell two goals down, France coach Didier Deschamps had seen enough. With four minutes left in the first half, he made a double substitution. Dembele and Olivier Giroud were the ones pulled, the latter not taking it well.
Then Kylian Mbappe’s brace pushed the match into extra time in the second half, when he followed up the penalty kick with that goal just seconds later.
MBAPPE Are you serious?! 😱
France connects pic.twitter.com/qZLzNz3aow
– FOX Soccer (FOX Soccer) December 18, 2022
Messi and Mbappe both scored again in extra time, taking the match to penalties, with Gonzalo Montiel being the unlikely hero.
Argentina wins the 2022 FIFA World Cup 🇦🇷
The men’s FIFA World Cup final ever pic.twitter.com/xp1N6DkLjA
– FOX Soccer (FOX Soccer) December 18, 2022
After the match: What the players and managers said
Post-match quotes will appear here…
Key stats (courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info)
Messi’s opener was the first goal or assist he scored in a final in his career with Argentina. It was the sixth penalty kick taken in a men’s World Cup final (excluding penalties). Only one of them did not convert – Antonio Cabrini against West Germany in 1982, although Italy won that match.
Of the previous 20 men’s teams to finish first in a World Cup final, 12 have gone on to lift the trophy. Only one team fell behind by two or more goals in a World Cup final and went on to win it before the final in Qatar-West Germany in 1954 against Hungary.
All three of Argentina’s goals were scored by players aged 34 or older (Di Maria 34, Messi 35). Before that, the only players of that age to have scored in a World Cup final were Nils Liedholm for Sweden in 1958 (35) and Zinedine Zidane for France in 2006 (34). Lionel, at 35 years, 177 days, is the second-oldest player to score in a World Cup final, after Liedholm (35 years, 264 days) in 1958 against Brazil.
France is the first team in men’s World Cup history to make multiple first-half substitutions in a final. The only other first-half substitutes in World Cups have been one in 1982 (Italy), two in 1994 (one each for Brazil and Italy) and one in 2014 (Germany).
With his first goal, Kylian Mbappe became the second player to score in two consecutive World Cup finals, after Brazilian Fava in 1958 and 1962. With his second goal, Mbappe became the first player to score seven goals in a World Cup since Ronaldo. Scored eight goals for Brazil in 2002.
There was a gap of just 1 minute and 37 seconds between Mbappe’s goals, marking the first time goals had been scored in consecutive minutes in a men’s World Cup final.
This was the eighth men’s world cup final to be cut to extra time, as only two of the previous seven had gone to penalties. However, it was only the fourth World Cup final to require an extra 30 minutes in the 21st century (2006, 2010, 2014, 2022), as many times as in the 20th century.
With the introduction of Lautaro Martinez from the bench, a Bayern Munich player and an Inter Milan player have appeared in each of the last 11 World Cups. Bayern’s Dayot Upamecano started the France match.
Mbappe’s third goal made him the second man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, after Geoff Hurst for England in 1966, and he was awarded the World Cup Golden Boot as the top scorer with eight goals.
With 172 goals, this is the World Cup with the most goals ever scored. 171 points were scored in 1998 and 2014.
Messi has won every competition he has participated in more than once. The only competition he has competed in and not won is the Coupe de France, in which he appeared once.
Next
Argentina: The new world champions are celebrating and celebrating their victory with no upcoming matches on their 2023 schedule yet. However, most of them will soon be back in action with their clubs as the Premier League resumes on December 26. And the second half of the LaLiga and Ligue 1 seasons will also start before the end of the year, which means it might not be long before we see Messi and Mbappe back together at PSG.
France: They may feel it now, but France didn’t have long before they began qualifying for Euro 2024. The road to Germany begins on March 24 when the Netherlands visit Stade de France, before Les Blues Traveling to face the Republic of Ireland three days later.
