One of the most exciting World Cup finals of all time was won on penalties by Argentina after Kylian Mbappe had scored a hat-trick to force the shootout.
Argentina was cruising to victory in the first half of the game with the score at 2-0 thanks to goals by Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria. But when Di Maria was taken off the field in the 64th minute the game changed, and France and Mbappe’s confidence grew more and more.
The France forward scored twice in a space of two minutes, the first from a penalty and the second a superb finish on the volley. The match went to extra-time with both sides being equal.
Argentina went ahead again through Messi’s close-range finish but Gonzalo Montiel’s handball gave Mbappe the chance to complete his hat-trick. He went the same way with his penalty bring the sides equal and pushing the match to a penalty shoot-out.
The third World Cup final penalty shoot-out started with Messi and Mbappe both scoring, but Kingsley Coman’s next kick for France was saved and Aurelien Tchouameni then went on to crucially miss the target.
Argentina took advantage of the situation and scored all their spot kicks to secure a victory against the defending champions.
It is the second time in five World Cups that France have lost the final on penalties after their defeat to Italy in 2006, and now it is Argentina who are champions for the first time since 1986.
The win allows Messi, at 35, to complete his glorious career by emulating the great Diego Maradona.
“Obviously I wanted to finish my career with this. I can’t ask for anything more,” he told Argentine television.
“My career is coming to end because these are my final years. What more could there be after this?”
But Messi said he would continue playing with the Argentine squad.
“I want to keep experiencing a few more matches as world champion,” he added.
Source: News24 Sport, SuperSport, The Athletic, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, image from Twitter: @Argentina