Argentina edged past France in the FIFA World Cup 2022 final, and Lionel Messi won the only remaining trophy in his glittering career. In a tightly-contested summit clash at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, Argentina and France drew 2-2 in regular time, and then held each other to a 3-3 scoreline in extra-time. It was only in the penalties that goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez reigned supreme as Argentina grabbed a 4-2 shootout victory.
The CONMEBOL side first took the lead in the 23rd-minute when captain Messi converted a penalty after Angel Di Maria was fouled in the French box. Then a quick counter in the 36th-minute saw Alexis Mac Allister assist Di Maria, who made it 2-0 for Argentina.
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With France edging towards a humiliating defeat, Kylian Mbappe came to his side’s rescue, levelling the match in 97 seconds. In the 80th-minute, the left winger capitalised on a penalty to make it 1-2 after Kolo Muani was brought down in the Argentine box. Then in the 81st-minute, the PSG star made it 2-2 with a stunning volley. As the match entered extra-time, both sides began to frantically seek a winner and it looked like Messi found it for Argentina, tapping in after a deflection of Hugo Lloris, to make it 3-2 in the 108th-minute. But then Mbappe once again responded in the 118th-minute, converting another penalty to complete his hat-trick and also making it 3-3.
In the shootout, Martinez came out on top for Argentina with saves to deny Aurelian Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman. Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning penalty as Argentina won 4-2 in the shootout.
After the victory, Messi said, “I want to be in Argentina to see how crazy it is. I want them to wait for me, I can’t wait to go there and enjoy it with them.”
Now it looks Messi will be able to celebrate with the entire country as the Argentine government announced that Tuesday would be a bank holiday so that the entire country can share the joy with the national team players at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires.
“The world champion squad will leave on Tuesday at noon for the Obelisk to celebrate the world title with the fans”, the Argentina Football Association (AFA) revealed on its official Twitter account.