After leading Argentina to victory in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Lionel Messi experienced his unique Diego Maradona moment. At the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Sunday, Lionel Messi basked in glory as Argentina defeated France to win the FIFA World Cup 2022 final. The captain of Argentina had said that he would retire. After the match before the final, but since winning the trophy.
In what ended up being a firmly challenged last. Argentina previously started to lead the pack in the 23rd minute with Messi profiting by punishment. After Heavenly messenger, Di Maria was fouled in the case by Ousmane Dembele. After that, Messi launched a quick counter in the 36th minute and lobbed a ball past his opponent to pinpoint Alexis Mac Allister’s run.
The Brighton midfielder burst into the box and squared it to Di Maria. Who finished past Lloris with a shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 Argentina. Kylian Mbappe had other ideas, and he scored two goals in 97 seconds to bring France back into the game. While the CONMEBOL team was cruising to victory.
The PSG star converted a penalty kick in the 80th minute to make it 1-2 after Kolo Muani was brought down in the Argentinean box. In the 81st minute, the 23-year-old scored a stunning volley to make it 2-2. Both teams started looking for a goal as the game entered extra time, and Messi appeared to have found one for Argentina when he scored from a deflection off Hugo Lloris making it 3-2 in the 108th minute.
A quick VAR check decided in his favor. However, Mbappe once more came through for his team in the 118th minute, converting a penalty after Gonzalo Montiel saw the Frenchman’s shot hit his arm. The score was 3-3 following Mbappe’s hat trick, and the game entered a penalty shootout. With stunning saves, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez stopped Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni from scoring during the shootout.
Argentina won the shootout 4-2 thanks to a penalty kick by Gonzalo Montiel. Argentine fans gave Messi a round of applause after the game, and he also had his Diego Maradona moment by being carried by the World Cup trophy on his shoulders. The Napoli legend received the same treatment after leading Argentina to victory in the 1986 FIFA World Cup final.
The image that has gone viral can be found here. The Golden Ball, given to the best player, was also presented to Messi. Enzo Fernandez was named the winner of the award for Best Young Player, and Martinez was given the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper. In the meantime, Kylian Mbappe won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals with eight.