(Football news) It was undoubtedly one of the greatest World Cup finals ever played as Lionel Messi’s Argentina took on Kylian Mbappe’s France at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. While each team plays with 11 players, the focus was on the two Paris Saint-Germain stars as rightly so, as Messi was playing in his last World Cup fixture in his illustrious career while Kylian Mbappe became the first player since Sir Geoff Hurst (1966) to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
The match seemed like a fairly one-sided affair, at least until the 80th minute in what looked like a straightforward victory for La Albiceleste, their first World Cup title since 1986. However, as the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson once said “Football, bloody hell!” France made an epic comeback when Randal Kolo Muani was tripped by Nicolas Otamendi in the 79th minute and Mbappe converted from the spot to hand Les Bleus a lifeline. The drama didn’t end there as Mbappe expertly volleyed his second goal and France’s equaliser just 90 seconds later to take the game into extra-time.
Earlier, Lionel Messi found the back of the net when Ousmane Dembele fouled Angel Di Maria in the 23rd minute in what looked like a soft decision. Di Maria then went on to double Argentina’s lead when a fantastic counter-attack which was spearheaded by Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister. Messi scored once again in extra-time when his rebounded strike was given by goal-line technology in the 108th minute, prompting celebrations from Argentine players and fans with the 35 year old reduced to tears.
But, France were not done yet and with just minutes left to play, Les Bleus were given a penalty after Gonzalo Montiel was penalised for handball. Mbappe, who was on a hat-trick converted from the spot once again resulting in a penalty shootout. Mbappe once again stepped up in the penalty shootout, finding the net for the fourth time in the fixture while Messi also scored to make it 1-1. However, Kinsgley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed for France while Argentina went on to convert all the remaining three with Montiel firing home the winning penalty.
An emotional Lionel Scaloni said after the match “This squad, these players, play for their people. They play for the Argentina fans. That’s what I have always seen. There are no rivalries, everyone pulls in the same direction. It is the greatest pride to play for your own country. The players broke their backs, have achieved this title because they understood what they had to do on the pitch. We are very very happy and proud. Today we are World Cup champions. Although we went to a penalty shoot-out, we deserved the win because of our great performance. Only some moments they made trouble for us.”
When asked about Messi, Scaloni added: “First of all, we need to save him a spot for the next World Cup in 2026 if he wants to keep playing. If he wants to keep playing, he’ll be with us. He’s more than entitled to decide if he wants to keep playing for Argentina or not, and what he wants to do with his career. It’s such a huge pleasure for us to coach him and his team-mates. Everything that he transmits to his team-mates is something unparalleled, that I’ve never seen before. A player, a person who gives so much to his team-mates.”
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez said “It was a game where we suffered. Two poor shots and they levelled. They gave them another penalty, they scored. Thank God later I did my thing, what I dreamed of. There could not have been a World Cup that I have dreamed of like this. I was calm during the penalties. I cannot believe that we have suffered so much in a perfect game. Unbelievable, but this team responds to everything.
“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, it’s a historic moment for our country. We who live for this and who have been through the good and the bad are used to these things… Above all it is an incredible enjoyment. Being at the top as we are now is something unique.”
France manager Didier Deschamps said “If you look at the match as a whole and see that in those first minutes, we were playing a very aggressive and dynamic opponent and we just weren’t up to the same level for a number of reasons. But nevertheless, we managed to come back from the dead and we made a magnificent comeback. We have some regrets about the first part of the match. We have to congratulate Argentina because they showed great quality, great aggression, experience and some very cunning football out there. I don’t want to take anything away from them because they put in a good performance.
“I went through a lot of different emotions tonight and there are some regrets because we were so close to winning. There were a number of reasons for that and why we weren’t quite as good as we should’ve been. We had a very strong opposition and we were perhaps lacking a little bit of energy. Some of our key players were lacking that energy but we had some younger players who came on and bought some freshness and quality.
They managed to get us back into the match and keep the dream alive but at the end of the game, we couldn’t achieve that dream. The whole of the squad has been facing a tricky situation for a while now and maybe that had a physical and psychological impact. I had no concerns about the players who started the match tonight.
“They were 100 per cent fit, but we only had four days since the last match so there is some tiredness perhaps, but not an excuse. We just didn’t show the same energy that we showed in previous matches. That’s why for the first hour or so, we weren’t in the match. Even if we had won the match, I wouldn’t have been able to answer that question tonight. I’m very sad for my players and staff, but I have a meeting with the president next year and then you’ll find out.”
Also read: FIFA plans to stage a 32 team Club World Cup from June 2025
