Despite Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick, Argentina won an all-time classic World Cup final.
Argentina won a 4-2 shoot-out victory thanks to Gonzalo Montiel’s winning penalty kick, which came after goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved Kingsley Coman’s attempt and saw Aurelien Tchouameni fire wide.
France, hoping to become only the third team in history to retain the championship, rallied from a two-goal deficit in regular time when Mbappe converted an 81st-minute penalty and scored a stunning volley 97 seconds later.
Messi had started the score before Angel Di Maria completed a fantastic counter-attacking play, and the Albiceleste number 10 restored his side’s lead in the 108th minute, only for Mbappe to reply two minutes later.
This set up penalties, which Mbappe and Messi both converted before Argentina bid farewell to their captain.
Argentina’s strong start was rewarded in the 21st minute when Messi easily beat Hugo Lloris from the penalty spot after Ousmane Dembele made contact with Di Maria in the box.
Messi made a fantastic flicked pass into the path of Julian Alvarez, who in turn played in Alexis Mac Allister to find Di Maria on the far side for the second goal.
However, Didier Deschamps made a double substitution before halftime, bringing on Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani, and both players made an immediate impact.
After working hard for much of the second half, France was awarded a penalty, which Mbappe converted after Nicolas Otamendi brought down Kolo Muani.
Mbappe, who had previously been a peripheral character, suddenly stepped up moments later with a thunderous volley from Thuram’s feed.
Messi appeared to have won it for Argentina in extra time when he reacted first to a saved Lautaro Martinez attempt, only for Paris Saint-Germain teammate Mbappe to equalize through a penalty after his shot hit Montiel on the arm.
Montiel, with the assistance of Martinez, would have the final say, as Messi and Argentina ended their wait.
What does it imply? The Messi-Mbappe battle lives up to the promise.
This was a fitting conclusion to a World Cup that saw a record 172 goals scored, surpassing the 171 registered in the 1998 and 2014 editions.
The game appeared to be all but over with 10 minutes remaining as France failed to get going, becoming the first side in World Cup history not to try a first-half shot.
Mbappe turned a one-sided final into a true epic, but it wasn’t enough as Argentina, inspired by Messi, added to their previous titles from 1978 and 1986.
Mbappe joins the exclusive club.
Mbappe joins England’s 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst as the only man to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final, scoring three goals from six shots.
Not that it will be much comfort to the PSG star, but he concludes the tournament as the competition’s leading scorer with eight goals, one more than Messi.
Messi leaves his imprint
Messi may have been overshadowed by Mbappe on an individual level, but he had a significant role in both this victory and Argentina’s tournament success.
He became the first player to score in each round of the competition in his record 26th – and final – appearance on the greatest stage of them all, while his 21 goal involvements are the most of any player in World Cup history.
Important Opta Facts
- Argentina has won the World Cup for the third time, 36 years after their previous victory in 1986. Only Italy (44 years from 1938 to 1982) has ever had a greater gap between World Cup victories.
- The past three defending champions to reach the World Cup final all failed to win, with France following Argentina in 1990 and Brazil in 1998.
- Argentina has won more World Cup penalty shootouts than any other country, with this being their sixth. After Brazil in 1994 and Italy in 2006, they became the third country to win a World Cup final shootout.
- After the 1974 match between Germany and the Netherlands, this was only the second World Cup final in which both teams scored a penalty. It was also the first time in showcase history that both teams scored at least three goals.
What comes next?
Argentina’s first match as world champions will take place during the March international break. France will meet the Netherlands in their first Euro 2024 qualifier in three months, regardless of whether Deschamps remains as head coach.