Argentina 3-3 France (4-2 PSO)
Qatar 2022 | Final
Lusail Stadium
Attendance: 88,966
Goals: Messi (23 pen and 108), Di Maria (36); Mbappe (80 pen, 81 and 118 pen)

Teams
Argentina
Emi Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez; Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria.

Substitutions: Marcos Acuna for Di Maria (64), Gonzalo Montiel for Molina (91), Lautaro Martinez for Alvarez (102), Leandro Paredes for De Paul (102), German Pezzella for Mac Allister (116), Paulo Dybala for Tagliafico (120+1).
Coach: Lionel Scaloni

France
Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Antoine Griezmann, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe.

Substitutions: Randal Kolo Muani for Dembele (41), Marcus Thuram for Giroud (41), Eduardo Camavinga for Hernandez (71), Kingsley Coman for Griezmann (71), Youssouf Fofana for Rabiot (96), Ibrahima Konate for Varane (113), Axel Disasi for Kounde (120+1).
Coach: Didier Deschamps

Going into the game
Much of the pre-match focus was on the showdown between France star Kylian Mbappe, who had lifted the trophy four years previously as a teenager, and Argentina talisman Lionel Messi, who was still searching for glory in his fifth – and what many expected would be his final – World Cup, with the duo also leading the way in the adidas Golden Boot race.

Argentina’s route to Lusail Stadium had been anything but smooth. Their campaign began with an earth-shaking defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia, but they recovered their composure to top Group C following victories over Mexico and Poland. Australia threatened a late comeback after going two goals down in the last 16, but were kept at bay by late heroics from Emi Martinez. What would prove to be further final premonitions were repeated in the quarter-final in a bruising, bad-tempered but enthralling showdown with the Netherlands, who hit back from 2-0 down to level in the 11th minute of added time. Penalties were needed to separate the sides, with Martinez to the fore again. Arguably La Albiceleste’s most comfortable victory came in the semi-final, as they eased past Croatia 3-0.

France set aside their pre-tournament injury woes – Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba were just three of the players ruled out – and booked their passage out of Group D with a game to spare following victories over Australia and Denmark, with a much-changed Bleus side then going down 1-0 to Tunisia. Poland were brushed aside in the round of 16 before England ran their near neighbours incredibly close in the quarter-finals, where Harry Kane’s late penalty miss proved decisive. Their opponents in the last four were Morocco, the fairy-tale story of the tournament as the first-ever African side to reach a World Cup semi-final. However, the Atlas Lions’ race was run by this point, with fatigue and injuries to key men blunting their challenge to France, who punched their ticket to the final with a 2-0 triumph.

Hitherto head-to-head record
۶ Argentina wins
۳ France wins
۳ draws

The game
The history books will remember arguably the greatest World Cup final of all time, as a six-goal thriller swung in favour of one side and then the other. But for the first 60 minutes at least, France could not lay a glove on Argentina and had failed to even have a single attempt on goal.

Scaloni’s side were in the box seat by half-time, with Messi stroking home a penalty before a sweeping Argentina attack cut their opponents apart and ended with Di Maria stroking the ball beyond an exposed Hugo Lloris.

With the clock ticking down, celebrations were beginning in the stands among the throngs of travelling supporters from South America. But at that point, Kylian Mbappe stepped up. First, he showed nerves of steel to fire home from the penalty spot in the 80th minute. And just 60 seconds later France were level, courtesy of a volleyed finish from the edge of the box which was executed to perfection by the young forward.

Messi swung the pendulum back towards Argentina in the second period of added time, forcing home from close range after Lloris parried his strike partner Martinez’s blistering shot, only for Mbappe to stand tall in the 118th minute, calmly converting from the penalty spot once again as the world watched on with shredded nerves.

Somehow, there was still time for further drama as Randal Kolo Muani found himself clear on goal in added time in extra-time. His connection was clean and true, the shot goal-bound and powerful, but Martinez raced from his line and spread his body to make a history-defining save with his outstretched left leg.

And it was the Argentina goalkeeper who was once again the hero during the penalty shootout, saving from Kingsley Coman and winning the psychological battle with Aurelien Tchouameni on his way to collecting the adidas Golden Glove award, allowing Gonzalo Montiel to fire home the winning kick to help Messi achieve his long-dreamed-of destiny of leading his nation to World Cup glory.

As a final footnote, Messi also received the adidas Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player, with Mbappe’s Lusail Stadium treble ensuring he claimed the adidas Golden Boot.

Quotes
“When we went around to see who wanted to take a penalty, we had two players too many. We always had players that wanted to take a penalty. Those are perhaps the toughest moments. When there are people behind the goal… and 80,000 in the stadium, it’s not the same as kicking while in training. But I think that it counts for something. You feel the ball, you feel the strike.”
Lionel Scaloni

“It was amazing. Everything changed for me that day. We finally got what we had dreamed of so much, the thing I’ve wanted for so long in my career. And it finally came at the end.”
Lionel Messi

“When I see a little bit of fear, or when the player knows that if they miss they are out, or a miss gives us an 80 per cent chance of winning, that’s when the chaos starts! I start whipping up the crowd, I start doing what I do.”
Emi Martinez

“Kylian has really left his mark on this final. Unfortunately he didn’t end in the way he would have liked, and that’s why he was disappointed at the end of the match like all the players.”
Didier Deschamps