Argentina Crowned World Champion in Best Ever FIFA World Cup Final

Doha: Lionel Messi is champion of the world with Argentina as he scored twice to help his side to a historic win over France on penalties after a crazy game which saw six goals cored in 120 manic minutes.

Messi and Kylian Mbappe went blow for blow throughout, with the Frenchman scoring a hat-trick and still ending up as a loser on the day. He, though, was excellent after a quiet hour and looked like he might just win it for France more than once.

Argentina were on the front foot from the very first whistle, and early on it looked as though France had no answer for Messi and co., with the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star and his teammates dictating things. Half-chances fell their way, but Hugo Lloris went relatively untroubled.

Then, Angel Di Maria, heavily involved, was fouled by Ousmane Dembele. The Juventus man beat the French winger and drove into the box, only to be brought down from behind. Messi stepped up and, of course, he converted by sending Lloris the wrong way. With his goal, he became the first player to score in the round of 16, the quarter-final, the semi-final and the final of a World Cup, the Spanish MARCA newspaper reported.

The second goal was all about the team. Messi was involved early with a clever flick around the corner, the Albiceleste broke and Alexis Mac Allister played into Di Maria to finish past Lloris. It seemed like the party was never going to stop.

France needed half-time to come and the French coach Didier Deschamps even made two changes in the first half, dragging both Olivier Giroud and Dembele.

For much of the second half, though, Argentina remained on top. Without having that many clear-cut chances, they were the better side and France looked a beaten team. But brilliant players don’t need much to turn things in their favour, and Mbappe went from having done nothing to having two goals in a two-minute spell. He first converted a penalty that was conceded by Nicolas Otamendi, and he then rifled in a sublime volley to level the scores.

From there, the momentum was fully with France and it was all about getting to extra time for Argentina. They got there, but Messi was close to winning it in 90 minutes as his long-range rocket was saved.

Things went wild in the added 30 minutes, and Messi looked to have won the game when he bundled a ball just over the line from close range. But, again, it wasn’t to be. France were awarded another penalty as a hand blocked an Mbappe strike, and the PSG star converted his second penalty of the game to level.

Emiliano Martinez then made a phenomenal save in the last seconds to deny Kolo Muani, and Lautaro Martinez missed a huge header seconds later at the other end.

Emi Martinez is a penalty expert, and so it proved again tonight. He saved one of France’s spot kicks and they missed another, with Messi, Dybala, Paredes and Montiel converting for Argentina.

Messi achieved what Maradona did in 1986 and dominated a World Cup for Argentina. The torch will one day pass to Mbappé, whose late goals lit up one of the most dramatic finals in the tournament’s 92-year history and emulated Geoff Hurst’s hat trick for England in 1966, but not just yet.

“Let’s go, Argentina!” Messi roared into a microphone on the field in the post-match celebrations after playing in a record 26th World Cup match, the Associated Press (AP) news reported.

Europe’s run of four straight World Cup winners came to an end. The last South American champion was Brazil, and that was also in Asia — when Japan and South Korea hosted the tournament in 2002.

Argentina won its previous World Cup titles in 1978 and 1986. In Qatar, the country backed up its victory from last year’s Copa America, its first major trophy since 1993. Qatar has organized an exceptional, historic World Cup in terms of the iconic, state-of-the-art stadiums as hosting venues of the matches and the exciting experience enjoyed by fans worldwide as hailed by football spectators and analysts.

Qatar has managed to attract many fans cheering for their teams with their number exceeding 3 million attending in the eight stadiums of the tournament. The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was hosted for the first time in the Middle East.

Global news agencies and press associations have been lauding the successful host of the 2022 World Cup by Qatar. They also commended the advanced preparations for the event in terms of modern infrastructure and smooth flow of fans to the venues of the matches amidst exciting activities accompanying the tournament during almost a period of one month.