Argentina is the FIFA World Cup 2022 Champions after edging out the defending champions France on penalties after a dramatic 120 minutes, which saw the game stop a 3 all draw. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was the hero for Argentina, saving France’s second penalty, which rallied the South American team back and eventually won the tournament.
In action, it was more of a show between France’s Kylian Mbappé who was going toe to toe with his Paris Saint-Germain colleague Messi.
Mbappé scored three goals for his side while Messi scored two. Messi put Argentina ahead from a spot kick in the first half after Ousmane Dembele fouled Angel Di Maria.
Di Maria made it two before the break. The game looked done and dusted for Argentina for the entire first half and the biggest part of the second half.
However, France defied the odds with 10 minutes to end of the game to command a 2-2 normal time report, thanks to Mbappe.
The first French goal came from a spot kick by Mbappe after Nicolas Otamendi’s foul on Randal Kolo Muani. Mbappe doubled the lead two minutes later to delay Argentina’s celebrations until extra time.
Messi appeared to have scored the winning goal in extra time sending Argentina’s fans into a frenzy before Mbappe scored a second penalty after Gonzalo Montiel was fouled, giving him a hat trick.
The game eventually went to penalties. Montiel scored the decisive penalty for Argentina. Prior to his penalty, France’s Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni had missed their chances respectively.
Argentina now has three world cup victories under their belt. They won their first World Cup title in 1978 as hosts before winning the 1986 edition hosted by Mexico, which featured the famous Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal that saw them get past England in the quarterfinals.
Messi was selected as the most valuable player while goalkeeper Martinez was selected as the best goalkeeper. On the other hand, Mbappe beat the competition from Messi to win the golden boot after scoring eight goals while Messi had seven.
This was the first World Cup to take place in the Arab and Muslim world, and the second to be staged in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.