Story by Derek Van Diest, Dec 18, 2020
LUSAIL, Qatar — It was the greatest final to give the greatest player in the game his FIFA World Cup title.At 3-3, both teams traded chances, but it was an incredible leg save by Martinez on Kolo Muani with seconds left, sent the game to penalties.
Argentina blew a two-goal lead, then another one-goal advantage in extra time, but won decisively in a penalty shootout to defeat France after the teams finished 120 minutes of exhilarating play deadlocked at 3-3.
Lionel Messi and his heir apparent Kylian Mbappe went toe-to-toe with Messi scoring twice and helping set up another, while Mbappe scored three goals, taking over the second half of the game.
Messi and Mbappe also scored in the shootout, leaving it up to their respective sporting cast to settle the contest. Argentina’s was better, with Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel, with the winner, scoring.
Kingsely Coman, Aurelien Tchouameni missed for France, while Randal Kolo Muani scored to give Montiel the chance to put the contest away in front of 88,966 at the Lusail Stadium.
With the win, Messi will go down as one of the greatest of all time. It was the only major trophy he was eligible of winning, which had eluded him. He finished the tournament with seven goals, one fewer than Mbappe, who two days from his 24th birthday, is already a World Cup champion and next in line to be the best player in the world.
For now, Messi, 35, still holds the title and cements his legacy alongside Pele and Diego Maradona.
It was a long time coming for the diminutive kid from Rosario, Argentina, who was a child prodigy and moved to Spain to play with the FC Barcelona academy at 13.
Messi had played in four previous World Cups, and the closest he came was in 2014, when he practically single-handedly took Argentina to the final before losing on an extra-time goal to Germany.
Messi has been carrying his country for the better part of two decades, but it wasn’t until this World Cup here in this small Gulf nation that he was finally surrounded with a talented team capable of winning it all. And in the end, they did win it for him.
Messi and Mbappe were the best players in the tournament, but Argentina had the better supporting cast. The return of Angel Di Maria to the lineup bolstered Argentina’s chances.
Di Maria won an Under-20 World Cup with Argentina in Canada in 2007 and has been a fixture on its national team since. The long-time Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain forward, who had a brief stint at Manchester United and now plays with Juventus in Italy, earned the penalty, which Messi converted to put Argentina ahead, and then scored the second.
France, looking to be the first to repeat as champions since Brazil did it in 1962, did well to get in the final considering the talent it had to play without, including current Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and midfielder Paul Pogba and defender Lucas Hernandez.
France also had a virus going through its team, which knocked defender Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot out of the semifinal. The two were back for the final.
Di Maria, meanwhile, looked well-rested after sitting out two games with a quad injury. He was a threat down the left all game and slipped past Ousmane Dembele at the side of the penalty area and then had his heals clipped by the defender 21 minutes into the game.
Messi stepped up and calmly stroked the ball into the right corner past France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who dove the other way. The goal was Messi’s sixth of the tournament, and fourth from the penalty spot. He missed a penalty in the group stage against Poland, stopped by goalkeeper Szczesny, and has scored every one since, including two in shootouts.
Argentina went up 2-0 in the 36th minute when Di Maria finished off a counter attack, started deep in its own end. The ball was played to Alexis Mac Allister, who intern played it to Messi and continued his run. With a man on his back, Messi flicked it out to Julian Alvarez, who then hit Mac Allister in space. Mac Allister then sent the ball across to Di Maria, who lifted it over Lloris.
At 2-0, Argentina was cruising and had a handful of chances to increase its lead as it overwhelmed France in the first half.
Sensing the issue, France head coach Didier Deschamps went to his bench early, taking off Olivier Giroud and Dembele in the 40th minute for Marcus Thuram and Kolo Muani.
In the second half, things remained status quo, until Mbappe took over. He scored on a penalty in the 80th minute to give France life. Then added a second just over a minute later, combing with Thuram to hammer a shot past Argentina goalkeeper Damian Martinez.
Mbappe had chances to put the game away as Argentina suddenly could not contend with him.
In Argentina’s previous World Cup win in 1986, they also blew a 2-0 lead late to West Germany, but Maradona was able to send Jorge Burruchaga away to score the winner.
This time it was Messi himself who nearly scored the winner, on a shot from the top of the area as time was winding down, which Hugo Lloris dove across his net to make an incredible save.
Lloris ended up doing the soccer world a favour, giving them an extra 30 minutes to watch Messi and Mbappe.
Messi would go on to put Argentina ahead with a goal in the 108th minute, putting a way a rebound. But France would not go away, as Mbappe converted another penalty when a shot hit the arm of Montiel, who was turning away and trying to protect his face.
At 3-3, both teams traded chances, but it was an incredible leg save by Martinez on Kolo Muani with seconds left, sent the game to penalties.
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