Argentina have beaten France to win their third FIFA World Cup title in one of the most memorable finals in the history of the tournament, if not the most.
From leading 2-0 to drawing 2-2 and leading again but it was on penalties that France have been conquered as Kylian Mbappé ended the night on the losing side despite his hat-trick performance.
Six goals scored after extra time, most in a final match in the competition history since England beat Germany 4-2 in Wembley back in 1966. This time, it finished all square and it is the South American side who were left smiling after the shout-out.
Lionel Messi got the party started for Argentina from the spot in the 23rd minute from the penalty spot after Ousmane Dembele clumsily brought down Angel Di Maria in the box.
Messi fired to his right, sending Hugo Lloris the wrong way for his sixth goal of the tournament, and the fourth from the spot. The PSG forward took five penalties in Qatar 2022, making him the player with the most penalties taken in a single edition of the tournament. (excluding shootouts)
Argentina doubled their lead six minutes after the half hour. Move started in their own half as Dayot Upamecano gave the ball away and Argentina cleared to Messi.
The seven time Ballon d’Or winner took a touch before feeding Julian Alvarez, who released Alexis McAllister with a first time pass. McAllister did well to tee up Angel Di Maria, who fired his shot past the rushing Hugo Lloris for 2-0 Argentina.
The South American took a 2-0 lead to the half time break, restricting France to zero attempt at their goal. Not even off target.
However, the story was only beginning as France gained a lifeline with only ten minutes to go. Kolo Muani beat Nicolas Otamendi to a long ball and the defender got too tight on his man, who went down and wins a penalty for France.
Kylian Mbappé converted for his first of the night, managing to beat Emiliano Martinez with his shot to the left to halve the deficit at 2-1.
One minute later, Mbappé scored a wonderful volley to level matters on the night at 2-2. Marcus Thuram did well to lift the ball past the Argentine defenders to find Mbappé, who beat Emiliano Martinez with a neat finish.
And with that leveler, it is only the second time in the history of a FIFA World Cup final match that a side has let a two goal lead sly. The first victim was also Argentina in the 1986, the last time they won the tournament.
That year, Argentina led 2-0 thanks to goals from Jose Luis Brown and Jorge Valdano just before the hour mark but Germany Karl Rummenigge and Rudi Voller leveled matters for Germany.
It was however Argentina who had the last laugh as Jorge Burruchaga nets the winner few minutes from the end of the game but the goal did not come in normal time this time as it ended 2-2 in Lusail.
The match match went to extra time and Argentina got the sight of history repetiting itself in the third minute of second half of extra time as Lionel Messi fired home a rebound after Hugo Lloris initially denied Lautaro Martinez.
However, France would not go down without a fight and Didier Deschamps’ side went all out in search of an equaliser. They got their reward as Kylian Mbappé’s shot hit the outstretched arm of Gonzalo Montiel.
The PSG forward stepped up to score and complete his hat-trick, becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup final match since Geoff Hurst for England against Germany.
Match finished 3-3 and for only the third time in history, a final match of the FIFA World Cup was to be decided by penalty shootout. France who had been a victim of final shout-out to Italy in 2006 were to again, fall victim of the ending.
Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouameni missed for France and Leandro Paredes fired home the decisive spot to hand Argentina their third FIFA World Cup title.
Argentina claimed their third world cup title, their first in over 36 years when the likes of Diego Armando Maradona delivered gold in Mexico. Their triumph in Qatar also means South American nations have won the two editions held in Asia following Brazil’s success in Korea/ Japan 2002.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
