Argentina won their third World Cup in an extraordinary final at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday (December 18) beating France 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw.
Argentinian Gonzalo Montiel took off his shirt to cover his eyes. He had fallen into tears the instant his penalty kissed the bottom left corner of the net that made his team the winner of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar whose handball at the last minute turned a penalty that scored by France to equalize.
The World Cup in Qatar that was the first in the Middle East, the first held during a European winter, the last to feature 32 teams, the final match was taken to penalties in a nail-biting finisher that left the South American country Argentina with its third world championship over France.
In the penalty shoot-out, French strikers Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni failed to convert their penalty kicks that gave opportunity to Argentina whose substitute Gonzalo Montiel to score the winning penalty and send France into plummet.
With this historic finish up, the 35-year-old Argentinian captain Lionel Messi finally lifted his Jules Rimet Trophy, his Golden Ball. For Messi, it was his first World Cup victory.
Argentina lifted the World Cup Trophy first in 1978 then under the captainship of Diego Maradona who is believed Argentina’s first football god, triumph in 1986.
Winning the FIFA title, Argentina earned a US $42 million bonus from FIFA for the title, while capturing its third World Cup.
Compared to previous versions of the World Cup final game, this match played between South American football giant Argentina and Europe’s football giant France was an incredible night of drama with high emotion and fluctuating fortunes. It delivered one of the all-time great finals to cap a wonderful tournament as two popular football-stars delivered their command skilled performances at the highest level.
Argentinian Messi scored twice in a 3-3 draw whereas French player Kylian Mbappe grabbed a hat-trick to bring the holders back from 2-0 and 3-2 down. The 23-year-old French striker Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot in the 80th minute and then a beautiful volley a minute later to turn the tie on its head. He also scored the third French goal through a penalty, which made him just the second player to complete a hat-trick in a World Cup final, after England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966.
At the last moment of the game to be ended, Mbappe scored another penalty at 117th minute and equalized 3-3 goals. Mbappe became the second man to score a World Cup final hat-trick which was written off record by England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966.
“”As I was able to get the Copa America and now the World Cup, I wanted to close my career with this, it was the one that was missing so I can no longer ask for anything else,” said Messi, who has played 172 times for his country and likely to be remembered as Messi World Cup.
Receiving the 18-carat gold trophy Cup at the crowd of nearly 89,000 spectators at Lusail Stadium in Doha on Qatar’s National Day too, the greatest footballer of his generation Messi held the capping his fifth and final appearance on the sport’s grandest stage with the sweetest prize was draped in a bisht (traditional Arabic cloak) by the Emir of Qatar.
Argentina secured their third World Cup, following triumphs in 1978 and 1986. France, who had also grabbed the trophy in 1998 and 2018 was seeking a third crown.
Before kick-off, FIFA played a tribute on the stadium’s four big screens to World Cup winners who had died since the last tournament in Russia four years ago, and a raucous applause was reserved for Diego Maradona, the incomparable star who led Argentina to their last World Cup win with a brilliant individual tournament.
During the first half, Argentina had dominated the opening stages and led 2-0 at half-time. But France clawed their way back after a slew of substitutions by coach Didier Deschamps, with Mbappe scoring a quick-fire double in the 80th and 81st minutes.
With his treble, Mbappe won the Golden Boot with eight goals, who ignored to celebrate.
The Golden Glove trophy went to Argentina goalkeeper Martinez.
Taking reference of organizing management, security and all the tiny Gulf nation that has nearly three million population was seemed capable of turning the World Cup best ever in the history.
(Report from Doha, Qatar)
