Argentina won its third World Cup in extraordinary style on Sunday, beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after Lionel Messi scored twice in a 3-3 draw that featured a hat-trick for Kylian Mbappe as the holders recovered from 2-0 down after 80 minutes.
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It was an incredible night of drama and fluctuating fortunes, delivering one of the all-time great finals to cap a wonderful tournament.
Argentina had looked to be cruising to a one-sided victory after Messi's penalty and a brilliant goal by Angel Di Maria in the first half put the team in total control but Mbappe converted an 80th-minute penalty and volleyed in an equalizer a minute later to take the game to extra time.
Messi put Argentina ahead again but Mbappe leveled with another penalty, becoming the second man to score a World Cup final hat-trick after Geoff Hurst for England 1966.
That took the game to a shootout where Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez saved Kingsley Coman's penalty and Aurelien Tchouameni fired wide to give Gonzalo Montiel a chance to win it, which he gleefully took.
It meant that after his record 26th World Cup match, at the fifth and final time of asking, the 35-year-old Messi finally claimed the trophy that he and his nation demanded, lifting him up alongside Diego Maradona after Argentina’s first football God carried the country to its emotional second triumph in 1986 following its first in 1978.
It had all looked to be going so smoothly earlier.
Di Maria, with just a few minutes under his belt since the group stage, looked dangerous from the start and when he left Ousmane Dembele flailing with a neat turn, the flummoxed Frenchman clumsily tripped him from behind after 23 minutes.
Messi took the penalty, calmly steering the ball low beyond Hugo Lloris and then Di Maria took center stage again after 36 minutes when he finished off one of the best goals to grace a final.
Nahuel Molina cushioned a first-time clearance to Alexis Mac Allister, who instantly played the ball to Messi. The captain changed the direction of attack with a great turn and layoff on halfway, Julian Alvarez clipped it back to Mac Allister, who advanced and slid the ball perfectly across the field for Di Maria to take in his stride and slot home.
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| IMAGE: France's Kylian Mbappe scores their first goal from the penalty spot past Argentina's Emiliano Martinez. |
France had barely had a kick and coach Didier Deschamps took decisive action, hauling off Oliver Giroud and Dembele and throwing on Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani after 41 minutes.
It made little impact until they were given a lifeline in the 80th minute when Nicolas Otamendi tripped Kolo Muani and Mbappe, previously anonymous, expertly converted the penalty.
A minute later he swept in a brilliant equalizing volley after combining cleverly with Thuram, stunning the massed Argentine fans watching their team concede two quick-fire goals for the third time in the tournament.
Argentina regained the lead after a counter-attack when the tireless Lautaro Martinez smashed a shot at Hugo Lloris and Messi pounced on the rebound, technology confirming the ball had crossed the line.
The drama was not over, however, as Mbappe hammered a shot against the arm of Montiel to produce another penalty in the 117th minute, which he calmly dispatched.
PLAYER RATINGS (1 = worst, 10 = best)
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez 8; Nahuel Molina 6, Cristian Romero 7, Nicolas Otamendi 6, Nicolas Tagliafico 7; Enzo Fernandez 8, Rodrigo De Paul 8, Alexis Mac Allister 8; Lionel Messi 8, Julian Alvarez 7, Angel Di Maria 8.
Subs: Marcos Acuna 6, Gonzalo Montiel 6, Leandro Paredes 6, Lautaro Martinez 6, German Pezzella 6, Paulo Dybala 6.
France: Hugo Lloris 7; Jules Kounde 4, Raphael Varane 6, Dayot Upamecano 5, Theo Hernandez 5; Aurelien Tchouameni 6, Adrien Rabiot 6; Ousmane Dembele 3, Antoine Griezmann 5, Kylian Mbappe 9; Olivier Giroud 4.
Subs: Marcus Thuram 7, Randal Kolo Muani 8, Kingsley Coman 6, Edouardo Camavinga 6, Youssouf Fofana 6, Ibrahima Konate 6, Axel Disasi 6.
BIG MOMENTS
23 mins: Messi opens with the first penalty of the game after Dembele foul on Di Maria.
36 mins: Di Maria adds second Argentina goal on the counter-attack after superb Mac Allister pas.
41 mins: Giroud and Dembele taken off, replaced by Thuram and Kolo Muani.
80 mins: Mbappe scores first France goal from the penalty spot after Otamendi foul on Kolo Muani.
82 mins: Mbappe scores his second goal to level for France with a stunning strike.
90+7 mins: Lloris tips Messi's shot from range over the bar.
105+1 mins: Two Martinez chances blocked by Upamecano.
108 mins: Messi sees Argentina back ahead after scoring from Martinez's rebound.
117 min: Mbappe sees France level again after Montiel handball.
Penalties: Montiel scores winning penalty in the shootout to win the game for Argentina.
KEY STATISTICS
Messi's opener was the first goal or assist he had recorded in a final in his senior Argentina career. His penalty was the sixth to be taken in a men's World Cup final (excluding shootouts). Only one of them was not converted -- Antonio Cabrini vs. West Germany in 1982, although Italy still won that match.
Argentina's Lionel Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in the group stage, round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final in a single edition of the tournament.
Argentina's Lionel Messi made his 26th appearance in a World Cup match, becoming the all-time record holder for most games played at the tournament, overtaking Lothar Matthaus (25).
Lionel Messi has scored 26 goals in major international tournaments for Argentina (13 World Cup, 13 Copa América), the most of any South American player in history across the two competitions, overtaking Ronaldo (25).
In France's Kylian Mbappe and Argentina's Lionel Messi, this was the first ever World Cup final to see both teams have a player score at least twice. Mbappe himself was only the second ever hat-trick scorer in a World Cup final, after England's Geoff Hurst in 1966.
Of the 20 previous men's teams to score first in the World Cup final, 12 went on to lift the trophy. Only one team has trailed by two or more goals in the World Cup final and gone on to win it before the final in Qatar -- West Germany in 1954 vs. Hungary.
All three of Argentina's goals were scored by players aged 34 years or older (Di Maria 34, Messi 35). Prior to this, the only players of that age to score in a World Cup final had been Nils Liedholm for Sweden in 1958 (35) and Zinedine Zidane for France in 2006 (34). At 35 years and 177 days, Lionel is the second-oldest man to score in a World Cup final, after Liedholm (35 years, 264 days) in 1958 vs. Brazil.
France is the first team in men's World Cup history to make multiple first-half substitutions in the final. The only other first-half substitutes in World Cup finals were one in 1982 (Italy), two in 1994 (one each by Brazil and Italy) and one in 2014 (Germany).
With his first goal, Kylian Mbappe became only the second man to score in back-to-back World Cup finals, after Brazil's Vava in 1958 and 1962. With his second, Mbappe became the first to score seven goals at a World Cup since Ronaldo scored eight for Brazil in 2002.
There was a gap of just one minute and 37 seconds between Mbappe's two goals, the first time that goals had been scored in consecutive minutes in a men's World Cup final.
This was the eighth men's World Cup final to go to extra time, with only two of the previous seven going to penalties. However, it was the fourth World Cup final to require an additional 30 minutes in the 21st century (2006, 2010, 2014, 2022), as many times as in the 20th century.
With Lautaro MartÃnez's introduction from the bench, a player from Bayern Munich and a player from Inter Milan has featured in each of the last 11 World Cup finals. Bayern's Dayot Upamecano started the match for France.
Mbappe's third goal made him only the second man to score a hat trick in a World Cup final, after Geoff Hurst for England in 1966, and it secured him the World Cup Golden Boot award as top scorer with eight goals.
With 172 goals scored, this is the World Cup with the most goals ever. There were 171 scored in 1998 and 2014.
Messi has won every competition he's appeared in more than once. The only competition he has played in and not won is the Coupe de France, in which he has made one appearance.
Up next
Argentina: The new world champions get to party and celebrate their triumph with no upcoming matches on their schedule for 2023 just yet. However, most of them will soon be back in action for their clubs with the Premier League resuming on Dec. 26. The second halves of the LaLiga and Ligue 1 seasons will also begin before the end of the year, meaning it might not be long before we see Messi and Mbappe back together at Paris Saint-Germain.
France: They may feel like it right now, but France don't have long before they have to begin qualification for Euro 2024. The road to Germany begins on March 24 when Netherlands visit the Stade de France, before Les Bleus travel to face Republic of Ireland three days later.
Best and worst performers
BEST: Kylian Mbappe
He was quiet for the most of the game, but the big players deliver when it matters. Mbappe turned the World Cup final on its head by scoring twice in the space of 90 seconds in the closing stages before claiming a hat trick with his extra-time penalty.
WORST: Ousmane Dembele
Gave away the penalty for Argentina's opener with a clumsy challenge on Di Maria. Didn't contribute anything positive and was even worse than Jules Kounde on France's woeful right flank.
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