After a thrilling penalty shootout victory over France in a great final, Argentina won the 2022 World Cup.
Gonzalo Montiel’s spot-kick fixed a 4-2 win in the shootout for the South American side at the 89,000-limit Lusail Arena in Sunday after the two groups were tied at 3-3 toward the finish of additional time.
After France’s Kingsley Coman had an attempt saved by Emi Martinez, Argentina’s goalkeeper and Aurelien Tchouameni had a shot that went wide, Montiel scored the game-winning goal.
The rollercoaster match was one of the greatest finals ever and marked the end of captain Lionel Messi’s international career. Messi, 35, led his team to their first World Cup victory since 1986 and third overall in his final appearance for the national team.
He made it a record-breaking 26th World Cup appearance by scoring two goals and another in the penalty shootout to cap a dominant performance in Qatar.
Messi had put Argentina 1-0 ahead in the 23rd moment from the punishment spot following areas of strength for a from mentor Lionel Scaloni’s charges in the underlying trades.
After sweeping a series of passes, Angel Di Maria, who was named to the starting lineup for the first time in the knockout phase, added a second in the 36th minute to cap a dominant first half against a lifeless France performance.
Mbappe’s hat trick for the champions
France, hoping to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to win the World Cup, continued to struggle in the second period.
The world champions from Europe didn’t make their first shot until the 68th minute, but with 10 minutes left, Kylian Mbappe scored twice in two minutes to put Argentina on the back foot and send the game into extra time.
The 23-year-old scored his first goal from the spot after a clever exchange with substitute Marcus Thuram. His second goal was a stunning volley.
Just before the halftime break, Didier Deschamps took decisive action to try to change the game’s momentum by substituting Thuram for Randal Kolo Muani.
Argentina held on as normal time came to a close thanks to Mbappe’s brilliant goal, but the game went back and forth when Messi scored his second goal in the 109th minute to give Argentina the lead.
Not to be outdone, Mbappe still had time to score a penalty with two minutes of extra time remaining to complete his hat trick and force a shootout.
The exceptional efforts of the 23-year-old ensured that he finished the tournament as the tournament’s top scorer, scoring eight goals in total, edging out Paris Saint Germain teammate Lionel Messi by one goal.
He is the only person since England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966 to have scored a hat trick in the World Cup final.
