Argentina were crowned champions of the world after a dramatic victory, on penalties, over France in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar on December 18. Lionel Messi scored from the spot in the 23rd minute after Angel Di Maria was tripped inside the box by Ousmane Dembele. The deficit was doubled in the 36th minute when Di Maria tucked Mac Allister’s low cross into the back of the net.
The scoreline remained the same till the 79th minute, after which two quickfire goals from Kylian Mbappe levelled the tie in the most dramatic way, eventually taking the game into extra time. Messi put Argentina back in front in the 105th minute before Mbappe completed his hat-trick in the 118th minute to take the game to penalties.
In a nervy shootout, La Albiceleste scored all the penalties they took while Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed for Les Bleus as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties after the game finished 3-3 after extra time.
Argentina made one change that saw the inclusion of Angel Di Maria in the lineup for the first time since La Albiceleste’s final group stage game against Poland as Leandro Paredes dropped to the bench - a decision that played a pivotal role in the final outcome of the game. Didier Deschamps made two positive changes that saw the recuperated duo of Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot retake their starting eleven spots in the final as Ibrahima Konate, and Youssouf Fofana started from the bench.
As the whistle for kick-off was blown, Lionel Messi made his 26th World Cup appearance, becoming the player with the most appearances at the grandest stage of world football, surpassing Germany’s Lothar Matthaus.
Argentina started on the front foot and looked quite menacing in the final third. The constant pressure paid off just after the 20-minute mark when Di Maria sold a dummy to Ousmane Dembele on the left flank before darting into the box. The French winger chased the Argentine and ended up conceding a penalty after tripping him. Messi stepped up to take the spot-kick and kept his composure to send Lloris the wrong way as the 35-year-old levelled Pele’s record of 12 World Cup goals while France trailed in a World Cup final for the very first time in history.
It went from bad to worse for Les Bleus a little over 15 minutes later. A quick counter by Argentina brought the ball from the defensive third to the final third within seconds as the French backline was caught napping. Messi flicked the ball forward to Mac Allister, who whipped a low ball from the right flank straight into Di Maria’s path. With a sublime first-time shot, the 34-year-old picked his spot past Lloris to establish a two-goal cushion.
Les Bleus ended the first half without a single attempt at goal, becoming the first side in a World Cup final to achieve this unbidden feat. It was one-way traffic till the 79th minute when Nicolas Otamendi brought Kolo Muani down in the box as the referee pointed to the spot. Mbappe stepped up to take it and squeezed it past Emiliano Martinez with France’s first shot on target. Astonishingly, parity was restored in the 81st minute courtesy of Mbappe again. The striker played a clever one-two with Marcus Thuram before dispatching a volley past Martinez with aplomb. Riding on the momentum, the scales tipped in favour of Les Bleus as the shell-shocked Argentinians were nervy on the night for the first time during the entire match.
In the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, Kingsley Coman made a stellar run down the left before getting tripped right outside the box. The advantage was played as the ball was eventually fired at goal by Muani before Martinez. Three minutes later, Acuna squared it to Messi, who fired a venomous shot at goal before Lloris matched it with a brilliant save and palmed it over the bar, shortly after which the whistle was blown, and the game went to extra time.
The first period of extra time saw the tempo drop a bit, but it got a little spicy towards the end when Messi came to life in the 105th minute and wriggled into the box before putting it on a plate for Lautaro Martinez. The striker’s shot was blocked by Upamecano’s last-ditch tackle. The rebound fell to Gonzalo Montiel, as the full-back saw his long-range piledriver blocked by Varane.
Frustration turned to elation for La Albiceleste just three minutes into the second period of extra time. Lautaro Martinez’s shot from inside the box was blocked at the near post by Lloris, but the rebound fell to Messi right in front of goal, whose shot was cleared from beyond the goal line by Upamecano as the referee awarded the goal. However, the game was level once again in the 118th minute when Mbappe scored the first World Cup final hat-trick since Geoff Hurst in 1966 to make it 3-3 as the dramatic game headed to penalties.
Mbappe stepped up to take the first penalty. Martinez got a glove on it, but the power saw it fly into the back of the net. Messi got Argentina off the mark in the shoot-out with a sublime shot that rolled into goal. Martinez went the right way to deny Coman as France missed their second penalty. Paulo Dybala stepped up to take Argentina’s second penalty and rolled it right down the centre as Lloris dived out of its way.
Tchouameni smashed his penalty wide as Les Bleus hung by a thread. Leandro Paredes fired his penalty into the bottom left corner as Lloris got a glove on it but could not keep it out. Muani fired one down the centre to keep France’s hopes alive before Montiel sent Lloris the wrong way to hand La Albiceleste their third World Cup trophy and a first after 36 years.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
