Lionel Messi Wins FIFA World Cup as Argentina Beat France in All-time Thrilling Final
Lionel Messi finally fulfilled his childhood dream as he led Argentina to the FIFA World Cup trophy with a thrilling win over France in an all-time greatest final in tournament history.
The match went to a penalty shootout where Emiliano Martinez came up big and saved Kingsley Coman’s shot, while Aurélien Tchouaméni missed the target as Argentina defeated France 4-2 as the match ended 3-3 after the extra time.
It was the substitute Gonzalo Montiel who held his nerves and stroked home the winning spot-kick to seal an agonising shoot-out loss for defending champions France.
Messi worked his magic in the 108th minute of the extra time to score the third goal for Argentina but Mbappe cancelled it again with a penalty in the 118th to make it an all-time thrilling contest in FIFA World Cup final history.
Messi had given Argentina the lead from the penalty spot in the first half before Angel Di Maria made it 2-0.
France looked the likelier team to go on and win it, but Messi put Argentina 3-2 ahead in extra-time after poking home from close range after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was parried by France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Mbappe stepped up to score from the spot for the second time to take the game to penalties.
The win allows Messi, at 35, to complete his glorious career by emulating Diego Maradona, and this will be remembered as his tournament despite the best efforts of Mbappe, who finished as the tournament’s top scorer on eight goals, one more than his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Messi.