What a crazy night we have witnessed! The World has never seen a world cup final like this. Argentina just have won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, ending their 36 years trophyless run. They defeated France in a dramatic final which has been decided on penalties.
As it happened
At Lusail Stadium, Argentina and France faced each other in the final of the FIFA World Cup. Argentina’s manager Lionel Scaloni set up the team formation with 4-4-2 in the final. Angel Di Maria recovered from the injury and played tonight. On the other hand, France boss Didier Deschamps played his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
From the beginning of the match, Argentina started dominating. They controlled the midfield. Moreover, Angel Di Maria earned a penalty kick for Argentina in the 23rd minute. Skipper Lionel Messi stepped forward to take the shots and made no mistakes. It is Messi’s 6th goal in the world cup. After that, Di Maria wrote his name on the scoresheet as he found the net in the 36th minute. As a result, Argentina went to the break with a 2-0 lead.
Returning from the break, both managers made several changes. As new players came into the field, France became a stronger team. They tried hard to score a goal. However, it seemed Argentina would win the match. But the drama was yet to come. It was Kylian Mbappe who destroyed Argentina in the final ten minutes.
In the 80th minute, France got a penalty kick as Nicholas Otamendi fouled Kolo Muani inside the box. Mbappe took that kick for France and scored. Moreover, Kylian Mbappe’s second goal within one minute turned the match into an exciting one. He scored in the 81st minute with Thuram’s assist. Therefore, the match went into extra time.
In the 2nd half of extra time, Lionel Messi stepped forward to help Argentina take the lead. He scored in the 108th minute. But the lead didn’t stay long. France got another penalty kick just two minutes before the final whistle, and Kylian Mbappe scored again from the spot kick. As a result, the match went to the tie-breaker.
Tie-Breaker
Kylian Mbappe took the first kick in the tie-breaker, and he scored. Lionel Messi also scored for Argentina. But Emiliano Martinez became the hero once again by saving a crucial penalty kick from Kingsley Coman. Furthermore, Tchuameni also missed the spot kick. But Argentina scored from the first four shots to seal the victory.