Messi’s magic helps Argentina win the 2022 World Cup against reigning champions France
Lionel Messi was finally able to end his quest to lift the World Cup trophy after his Argentina side beat France 4-2 on penalties following a thrilling 3-3 draw after extra time .
The game’s most revered number 10 also won the Ballon d’Or award for the second consecutive finals, while Kylian Mbappe took him to the Golden Boot after scoring all three of Les Bleus’ goals in Lusail.
While France boss Didier Deschamps says he will delay any decision on his future until the new year, opposite number Lionel Scaloni had nothing but praise for his players after ending the country’s wait over three decades to win their third World Cup.
Tributes were also paid to the iconic Diego Maradona in the post-match celebrations as the 1986 winner passed away two years ago.
Follow all the reaction to the final and the World Cup as a whole on our live blog below:
Final reaction of the World Cup
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‘People needed this’: Argentines left problems to celebrate World Cup victory
It was the country’s third world title, and the first since 1986.
“I’m very happy, we deserved this. The team suffered a lot but recovered as time went on,” said Josefina Villalba, a 55-year-old nanny who joined hundreds of fans in one of the many public squares where giant screens were set up to watch the long awaited… match.
Millions of Argentines cried, screamed and hugged as they watched the match, which was a rollercoaster of emotions.
“I feel immense happiness in my heart because this is the first World Cup that I really enjoy,” said Hector Quinteros, a 34-year-old security guard, as his eyes filled with tears. “This always happens. They always make us suffer.”
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 10:30 p.m
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Emiliano Martínez: How good is the Argentine goalkeeper at saving penalties?
The Aston Villa goalkeeper has won four consecutive shutouts for club and country, with his last defeat coming in 2019 when he was with Arsenal.
Argentina beat both the Netherlands and France on penalties to seal their World Cup triumph, with Martinez at the fore.
He saved from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis against the Dutch, scoring the second save with a delightful performance, and also denied France’s Kingsley Coman.
Aurelien Tchouameni then fired wide, but only after having to win the ball back with a wry smile after Martinez flicked it into the corner of the box. The Argentine goalkeeper picked up a yellow card in the penalty shootout for his continued antics before Randal Kolo Muani’s successful try.
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 10:15 p.m
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World Cup 2022: How Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe dominated the tournament
Argentina’s Messi finally lifted the trophy in his record 26th appearance at the tournament, but not before France’s Mbappé had become the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966.
Messi’s seven goals took him to 13 in total, the most by an Argentinian player and joint fourth on the all-time list.
Mbappe, who celebrates his 24th birthday on Tuesday, is set to overtake him after scoring eight times in Qatar to take his tally to 12 in 14 appearances.
The two number 10s were well ahead of anyone else at the tournament, with Mbappé top scorer and Messi regarded as the best player in what will be his final World Cup.
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 10:00 p.m
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“Crazy and cruel”: French newspapers react to World Cup final defeat
It looked as if France hadn’t shown up when Argentina took a two-goal lead, but the Bleus hit back when Mbappé scored twice in two minutes before equalizing again in extra time.
Given that France were champions four years ago and that the result saw Messi win the World Cup for the first time, national newspapers reflected on the contribution they had made to making the final the greatest of all time .
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 9:45 p.m
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Emi Martínez: The grit and ingenuity that won Argentina the World Cup
Emiliano Martínez, world champion. That might have seemed far-fetched four years ago when he sat in the stands like another Argentina fan in Russia, watching France win 4-3 in an epic World Cup qualifier.
There Martínez had told his brother sitting next to him that he would play in the next World Cup. He was ambitious to say the least. He was then 25, a substitute at Getafe on his sixth loan from Arsenal; another followed at Reading, where his status rose, before an unlikely opportunity at Arsenal opened up when Bernd Leno suffered a freak injury.
In 2021 he was Argentina’s number 1 goalkeeper. Soon to be Copa América champions, his vital saves to deny Richarlison and others at the end of a tense final at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, the venue where Lionel Messi and co had lost the World Cup final in 2014. Martínez was at the heart of his salvation.
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 9:30 pm
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Kylian Mbappe produces the most memorable fight back only to end in the nastiest despair
The best World Cup ever, Gianni Infantino had said. It turned out that the Fifa propagandist of a president was just one word short. The best final of the World Cup? The case grew stronger as the game became more illogical, more credibility-defying, more dramatic.
France’s responses – two goals in two minutes of chaos, one more in the 118th minute – were the best comeback in World Cup final history.
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 9:15 p.m
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‘We have the best players here’: Lionel Messi’s hometown of Rosario celebrates World Cup victory
The streets of Lionel Messi’s hometown of Rosario erupted on Sunday after Argentine soccer beat France soccer to win their third 2022 World Cup title.
“We are champions, which is all we wanted, more than anything for (Messi) and for the whole team,” said 25-year-old Santiago Ferraris.
Rosario, like the rest of the country, was paralyzed during the nail-biting match that ended in a penalty shootout, which Argentina won 4-2.
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 9:00 p.m
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Deschamps to wait before deciding the future
France coach Didier Deschamps said he will meet with the French Football Federation in the new year before deciding whether or not to continue in charge of the national team.
Les Bleus twice came from behind to force the World Cup final into a penalty shoot-out with Kylian Mbappe scoring a brace in less than two minutes to take the game into extra-time before completing a hat-trick to cancel out a supposed Leo Messi winner.
Deschamps, who has led France to back-to-back World Cup finals as head coach, says he would have been reassessing his future regardless of the final result.
“Even if we had won, I wouldn’t have been able to answer that question tonight,” Deschamps said when asked about his future plans.
“Of course I’m very sad for all my players and staff, but I’ll have a meeting with the chairman early next year and then you’ll know.”
Karl Matchett December 19, 2022 8:45 p.m
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‘I wrote my story’: Karim Benzema hints at France international retirement
The 35-year-old forward, who has won 97 international caps for France and is fifth on their all-time goalscoring list with 37 goals, was also not involved in their 2018 World Cup victory.
Benzema was not selected by France for six years, between 2015 and 2021, for his role in an alleged blackmail plot against fellow international Mathieu Valbuena.
The Real Madrid captain was called up by France manager Didier Deschamps for the Euro 2020 final last summer, which also came amid the best form of his career.
Michael Jones December 19, 2022 8:30 pm
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France will be welcomed by the fans in Paris after returning from defeat in the World Cup final
Kylian Mbappe and his teammates, who left Qatar on Monday, are expected to go to the Place de la Concorde in the evening to greet fans, according to a statement from the French Football Federation.
Unlike in 2018, when France won the World Cup in Russia, the players will not have a parade on the Champs-Élysées.
In his first message on Instagram and Twitter after Sunday’s defeat, Mbappe posted a photo of himself, face down, behind the World Cup trophy with the message: “We will be back.”
More than 24 million people — eight out of 10 viewers — watched the final on French TV, TF1, a record.
Michael JonesDecember 19, 2022 8:15 p.m