After a thrilling final at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on December 18, Argentina defeated France 4-2 on penalties to win the 2022 World Cup. After a 3-3 draw, Argentina won the World Cup.
Through Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria, Argentina jumped out to a two-goal lead before holders France miraculously tied the game with two goals from Kylian Mbappe.
Before Mbappe completed his hat trick from the spot to send the game to a penalty shootout, Messi gave Argentina the lead in extra time.
As a result, Messi, who was playing in his record 25th and final World Cup match, receives a delightful ending as he lifts the trophy for the first time—the only major honor he has never received.
After winning the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, this is Argentina’s third title.
“I cannot believe that we have suffered so much in a perfect game. Unbelievable, but this team responds to everything,” Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said.
“I am proud of the work they did. It is an exciting group. With the blows we received today, with the draws, this makes you emotional. I want to tell people to enjoy, it’s a historic moment for our country.”
Meanwhile, France’s bid to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win both World Cups was unsuccessful. In 2018, France won the tournament.
The only change for Argentina since their victory over Croatia in the semifinals was Di Maria’s selection over Leandro Paredes. Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot started for France after they missed their semifinal win against Morocco due to a virus that affected the team this week.
Mbappe barely touched the left wing in the first half, making France sluggish at first. In the meantime, his Argentine counterpart Di Maria appeared to be in danger and was awarded a penalty on 21 minutes when he was brought down by a careless challenge from Ousmane Dembele of France. Messi calmly rolled the ball into the bottom-left corner after stepping up to convert.
After Messi freed up midfielder Alexis Mac Allister down the right wing, Di Maria came on strongly and scored past France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. This was Di Maria’s second goal of the game. Di Maria scored Argentina’s third goal in a row in the final, his first coming in the Copa America final victory over Brazil in 2021.
After 41 minutes, France coach Deschamps made his first substitutions, substituting Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani for Olivier Giroud and Dembele because France’s forward play was unusually weak.
France, which didn’t get a shot until 71 minutes into the second half, came alive late in the game and were rewarded when substitute Kolo Muani won a penalty with less than ten minutes left, which Mbappe converted. Argentina continued to dominate for much of the second half.
France won the ball back at the halfway line just 97 seconds later, and Mbappe scored again by sending a floated pass into the box for the PSG player to volley into the bottom right corner.
After that, Argentina’s once-vibrant attack became deflated as they fought valiantly to keep the game alive before Messi scored from 25 yards out with almost the last kick of regulation time, forcing Lloris to make a spectacular save and sending the game into overtime.
The drama was far from over. Following a handball by Gonzalo Montiel, Mbappe completed his hat trick with a second penalty, sending the match into a shootout. Argentina thought they had won when Messi pounced on a pass from Lloris and scored. However, France scored again before the end of the match, and Mbappe completed his hat trick.
With his eighth goal in Qatar, Mbappe became only the second man to ever score a hat trick in a World Cup final, beating out Messi for the Golden Boot.
Mbappe and Messi scored the two opening penalties, however Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved the next two France efforts from Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni before Montiel moved forward and switched over completely to help Argentina to a 4-2 win on penalties.
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