Skipper Lionel Messi was crowned the undisputed King of world football as he picked up the only trophy missing from his glittering cabinet after his team conquered a Kylian Mbappe-inspired France 4-2 via tie-breaker after the breathless finale ended 3-3 at the end of regulation time and extra time
Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni with the World Cup trophy on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
In the end, the Argentine team, who arrived at the Lusail Stadium for their World Cup final against France singing and dancing in the team bus, left the same way, after close to three hours of breathtaking football.
Skipper Lionel Messi was crowned the undisputed King of world football as he picked up the only trophy missing from his glittering cabinet after his team conquered a Kylian Mbappe-inspired France 4-2 via tie-breaker after the breathless finale ended 3-3 at the end of regulation time and extra time.
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Impressive start
Messi scored the opener calmly from the penalty spot after Angel di Maria was fouled in the French box. A brilliant team effort then saw Di Maria make it 2-0 in the 36th minute. The Argentines continued to impress in the second half before 10 minutes of Mbappe mayhem wreaked havoc. Kolo Muani was brought down by Argentina’s central defender Nicolas Otamendi and Mbappe made no mistake from the resulting penalty (80th min). One minute later, Mbappe volleyed home for 2-2. Extra-time was equally entertaining, as Messi got to the end of a Lautaro Martinez rebound that came off French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to make it 3-2 (109th min) before a hand ball in the Argentine box saw Mbappe score from the penalty spot again for 3-3 just two minutes from the final whistle.
The tie-breaker saw Argentina’s Golden Glove-winning custodian Emiliano Martinez first deny Kingsley Coman after which Aurelien Tchouameni hit wide, while the Argentines scored through Messi, Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel to emerge champions.
Also Read: Everyone is hard to beat at World Cup: Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni
“I cannot believe we have suffered so much in a perfect match. It’s unbelievable the way this team respond to everything. I’m proud of this hardworking and most exciting group. I want the people of Argentina to enjoy this historic moment,” Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said at the post-match press conference.
France coach Didier Deschamps meanwhile, attributed his team’s failure to defend their title to illness. “We failed to show up in the first half.
French blame the flu
“There are many reasons to explain why we were not as good. Several important players had less energy [following their illness], but bringing on younger players with less experience but more freshness and quality allowed us to keep dreaming. But that dream has not come true. The whole squad had to face a difficult situation and that may have had a physical or psychological impact on them,” said Deschamps, obviously referring to his first-11 players here, Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano, who missed the semi-final against Morocco as they were recovering from a flu. Raphael Varane had earlier reported flu symptoms too and the French players had begun isolating and wearing masks across the last two weeks or so.
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