The moment ‘Lionel Messi WINS The World Cup As Argentina Beat France On Penalties In All-Time Classic’ Lionel Messi has crowned his illustrious career by winning the World Cup with Argentina. The superstar forward helped his team win via a penalty shootout after the game ended 3-3 following extra time.
Lionel Messi WINS The World Cup As Argentina Beat France On Penalties In All-Time Classic
Argentina was 2-0 ahead deep into the second half and seemingly heading to glory. But Kylian Mbappe had other ideas and scored two goals in the space of a minute to take the match to extra time.
Messi, who earlier scored from the penalty spot, thought he had won it in the second period of extra time. He poked home from close range to send the majority of the crowd into bedlam.
But Mbappe completed his hat-trick with another penalty to send it to a shootout. Argentina scored all four of their spot-kicks but both Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed their efforts.
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Gonzalo Montiel took the winning spot kick, sending Hugo Lloris the wrong way. And Messi could finally call himself a World Cup winner in what will be his last game ever at the tournament.
Argentina was in dreamland at half-time. Messi had given them the lead from the penalty spot after Ousmane Dembele tripped Angel Di Maria in the France 18-yard box.
Di Maria was starting his first game of the knockout stage after recovering from an injury. And he was next on the scoresheet, finishing off one of the best team goals of the tournament.
France looked lost and Didier Deschamps had to do something. He dragged off both Dembele and all-time leading goalscorer Olivier Giroud in the 41st minute.
Les Bleus still struggled to break down the Argentina defence and hadn’t had a shot on target for the first hour. But then that man Mbappe turned on the heat.
After Randal Kolo Muani was brought down by Nicolas Otamendi, Mbappe squeezed his penalty past Emi Martinez. Just a minute later, Mbappe scored again, volleying into the other corner to send the game to extra time.
France had the ascendancy going into the added period. But it was Messi who thought he had the final say.
After Lautaro Martinez beat the offside trap, Messi tapped his close-range effort just over the line. But France was not done there.
Mbappe won another penalty, seeing his shot blocked by Gonzalo Montiel’s arm. He stood up and converted to score the first hat trick in a World Cup final since 1966.
Both sides could have won it late on in extra time. But after three penalties in the match, it was to be a shootout to decide the winner.
Mbappe stepped up first and scored, as did Messi. But Coman’s effort was saved by Martinez.
Paulo Dybala netted for Argentina as Tchouameni then put his strike wide of the left-hand post. Kolo Muani kept France in it after Leandro Paredes scored but Montiel stepped up and kept his nerve to win it for Argentina.
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