The World Cup Final was a sensation. It ended up with Argentina and France needing penalty kicks. The anticipation was high as the game led to seesaw dynamics and ended in an in epic final. The match between the previous World Cup champion France and the historic World Cup champion Argentina was really between France's Kylian Mbappé and Argentine's Lionel Messi.
In fact, France was relying on the forward Kylian Mbappé, whereas Argentina was looking up to Lionel Messi. Both Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi have been the two best players in the tournament, and entered the final with a tournament-high five goals.
With Kylian Mbappé, France overcame a late two-goal deficit.
Argentina was so confident early in the game, with Lionel Messi scoring a penalty, while Angel di Maria scored a sweeping finish, leading Argentine to 2-0 up in the first half. Then, Kylian Mbappé scored twice in the last 10 minutes to tie the game and lead to the extra time.
France fans in the stadium, including French president Emmanuel Macron, were thrilled.
In the extratime, Lionel Messi gained back the lead for Argentina. However, Kylian Mbappé stunned Argentina fans and restored the tie with a penalty. The game was forced into a shootout. This was Kylian Mbappé's third, and the first hat-trick in a World Cup final since 1966.
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In the penalties shootout, Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved France Kingsley Coman's penalty and Aurelien Tchouameni missed the target. Gonzalo Montiel shot the winning goal, setting the stadium full of Argentine fans in a state of spectacular celebrations.
The World Cup championship was over: France had lost to Argentine, or rather, Kylian Mbappé to Lionel Messi.
Lionel Messi's wait for World Cup glory was finally over, in a dramatic penalty shootout. Argentina had its first title since 1986.
France has all along been the favorite of the 2022 World cup tournament. It maintained the momentum with a consistent team. They were hoping for their third world title after the wins in 1998 and 2018. France was also hailed for its multiracial soccer team competing in the World Cup.
However, Argentina has shown its persistence, having won five straight games, after surprisingly loosing to Saudi Arabia in the opening group stage. Its previous World titles were in 1978 and 1986, when it was led by the World famous soccer player, Diego Maradona.
