Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes of Argentina celebrate (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Lionel Messi capped his glittering career with World Cup victory on Sunday as Argentina beat France on penalties in a final for history, winning 4-2 after Kylian Mbappe’s hat trick ensured the game ended level afterwards. of the extension.
Gonzalo Montiel took the decisive penalty to give Argentina its third World Cup and prevent France from becoming the first team in 60 years to retain the trophy.
But a truly remarkable game saw Messi and Mbappe live up to their hype, with Messi scoring twice and Mbappe becoming the first player since England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final. World in a game that ended 3-3 after overtime.
Messi had opened the scoring from the penalty spot midway through the first half before Ángel Di María doubled Argentina’s lead late on a brilliant 36th-minute counter-attack.
But the astonishing Mbappé breathed life into the reigning champions when he parried a goal from the penalty spot with 10 minutes to go before impressively equalizing just 60 seconds later to force extra time.
Messi then appeared to have decided the game in Argentina’s favor once and for all when he converted a rebound in the 109th minute, only for Mbappé to score from another penalty kick, making the game 3-3 and forcing a penalty shootout. .
The third shootout of the World Cup final began with goals from Messi and Mbappé, but Kingsley Coman’s next shot for France was saved and Aurelien Tchouameni crucially missed the goal.
It is the second time in five World Cups that France have lost the final on penalties after they were defeated by Italy in 2006, and it is Argentina who are champions for the first time since 1986.
The triumph allows Messi, at 35, to complete his glorious career emulating Diego Maradona, and this will be remembered as his tournament despite the best effort of Mbappé, who finished as the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals, one more that its Paris Saint. -Germain Messi’s partner.
Mbappé hat trick
France’s history quest had been threatened by a virus in the days leading up to the final and they seemed slow before Argentina took the lead.
France conceded a penalty for the fourth time in this tournament when Di Maria was cut by Ousmane Dembele, and Messi stepped up to score from the penalty spot for the fourth time in Qatar, his 12th World Cup goal allowing him to match Pelé’s score.
The expected response from the defending champions did not come and Argentina increased their lead in the 36th minute.
Messi and Julián Álvarez combined to free Alexis Mac Allister by breaking through the middle, and he played a first-half ball to the far post for Di María to finish off.
Having barely appeared in the round of 16 due to injury, Di María had returned here and appeared in tears as he celebrated his goal, which was a World Cup final classic.
France had not even scored a shot and Deschamps moved before half-time to replace Olivier Giroud and the struggling Dembélé.
Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram came on, while Mbappe moved into the middle of the attack.
Argentina loses two goal lead
Argentina had blown a two-goal lead before finally emerging victorious in their last World Cup final triumph 36 years ago, but there seemed little prospect of a repeat of that scenario.
However, the French were suddenly given hope when they won a penalty 10 minutes from time when Kolo Muani was brought down by Nicolas Otamendi.
Mbappe smashed the penalty kick into the net and French President Emmanuel Macron rose to his feet. France had hope, and within a minute they were level.
Coman robbed Messi of possession in the run-up, before Mbappe found Thuram and then met his teammate’s fall with a stunning volley.
It will go down as one of the most dramatic moments in World Cup history, and the French players on the bench ran across the pitch to celebrate with their teammate.
Argentina, who lost the 2014 final after extra time, looked shattered and yet again looked like they had won it when Messi followed up to score early in second extra time after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was saved.
But France was saved again by Mbappé when he converted another penalty after a handball from Montiel.
It went from end to end, and Argentina needed a brilliant save from Martínez de Kolo Muani to take it to penalties and Montiel’s shot was decisive to spark the Argentines’ celebrations.
