Superstar Lionel Messi lived his dream to lift the elusive World Cup trophy after Argentina edged France 4-2 in penalty shoot-out in the final of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday night.
In the shoot-out, Messi, Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel all scored from four kicks for Argentina.
Mbappe and Randal Kualomni scored for the defending champions but Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouamani missed it out to hand Argentina their third World Cup trophy.
The match turned out to be a Lionel Messi vs Kylian Mbappe show after finishing 3-3 at the extra-time into the penalties.
Argentine star Messi tapped into the France net in the 109th minute as Argentina went ahead 3-2. The joy was short lived as France got a penalty two minutes later. France star Mbappe netted his hat-trick of the match as he coolly slotted home their third goal to make it a dramatic 3-3 score.
At full-time the match finished 2-2 after France made a late comeback to restore parity as Argentina were cruising along with a 2-0 cushion till the last 10 minutes.
France returned a goal in the 80th minute when star striker Kylian Mbappe converted a penalty and two minutes later the PSG forward sensationally scored another with a brilliant left-footer to put scores level at 2-2. Marcus Thuram got a yellow in the 86th minute for a penalty appeal after falling down in the Argentina penalty box.
An additional time of eight minutes was given as injury time. Argentina survived some close attempts by France during the period.
Messi’s strong shot from just outside the box was put out by keeper Hugo Lloris in the next minute. In the extra-time, Argentina substituted defender Molina with Montiel.
France replaced Rabiot with Fofana. Earlier, captain Messi put 'Albie Celesto' ahead in the 23rd minute of the match after French defender Ousmane Dembele brought an advancing Angel Di Maria to the left corner of the penalty box.Messi seized the opportunity from the spot kick as his left-footed shot was perfectly placed into the right corner of the French net giving no chance to France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris who dived to the left. In the 36th minute, Di Maria’s moment of the World Cup arrived.
The move started with a nice intervention by Messi in the middle.Mac Allister got the ball and crossed nicely to Di Maria on the left side who made an accurate finish past France captain Lloris.
Stunned by the two goals, France manager Didier Deschamps made a double substitution in the 42nd minute. Forward Oliver Giroud and defender Ousmane Dembele were replaced by Marcus Thuram and Kolomuani.
The match started with Argentina pressing hard for an opener and several shots came straight to Lloris. They earned the first corner in the eighth minute.
In the 17th minute, Di Maria hit a shot over the bar after receiving a flick from Messi.
In the next minute, France got a free kick near the left-side of Argentina's penalty box. Antoine Griezmann’s free kick was just above the bar after a brilliant header by Giroud.
France had another free kick in front of the Argentina penalty box in the 26th minute after a foul on Giroud. Griezmann took the kick again but France couldn’t take advantage of the chance.
In the second half, Mac Allister made a good connection to a well-directed cross after a good Argentina build-up but went straight to Lloris in the 48th minute.
In the 51st minute, France got a corner but Argentina goalkeeper Emilio Martinez rose high to grab the ball.
Next minute, Argentina earned a corner and was headed away by Griezmann.
France’s Adrien Rabiot received a yellow for a foul.
In the 65th minute, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni recalled goal-scorer Di Maria for Marcus Acuna to consolidate their defence.
France tried hard for a goal and earned a corner next but Thuram’s header was off target.
Star French striker Kylian Mbappe tried a solo effort from outside after dribbling past some Argentine defenders but his shot went over by some margin in the 68th minute.
France made a double change in the 70th minute.
Theo Hernandez was replaced by midfielder Camavinka and Griezmann was substituted by Coman.
A capacity turnout of 88,966 was recorded for the final at the stadium.
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