2022 World Cup : Argentina wins the final after beating France in an epic drama

The battle for the third star took place this Sunday afternoon at the Lusail Stadium. Until the end of the suspense, Argentina got the best of France. After a 3-3 draw at the end of extra time, Scaloni’s men won 4-2 on penalties. This great match was also the occasion of a match within a match between Messi and Mbappe, two of the biggest stars in the world of football. They both delivered a great performance.

In each camp, the end of the game was unbreathable. It was Gonzalo Montiel, Argentina’s fourth shooter in the penalty shootout, who, with a perfectly executed counter-punch, beat Hugo Lloris and freed an entire nation. But before that happened, the Albiceleste could have been left in deep disarray, thanks to a crazy scenario.

When Marciniak, the Polish referee of this final, kicked off, the Argentinians quickly took the game into their own hands. Di Maria and Messi, in particular, were particularly inspired and caused disorder in the defense of France. This domination led to a penalty obtained by El Fideo and converted by La Pulga in the 23rd minute of play. But the Argentinians did not stop there, continued to give their life on the field, press well and block Griezmann. In addition to having its leader muzzled, we can not say that the Blues put the same degree of commitment as the Albiceleste on the field. Too soft in all the compartments and hesitant, inaccurate in its various transmissions, the French team concedes a devastating counter, Angel Di Maria takes care to fold the case and gives two goals ahead to his team in the 36th minute. Argentina returned to the locker room with a logical lead, France having shown nothing but a very pale face.

At the end of the second half, the Albiceleste continued to put a lot of impact and to get the best of their opponent. And even when from the hour of the game, their intensity level clearly weakens, we wonder what could happen to them. There is one man, however, who was not necessarily expected, who is showing more and more. Randal Kolo Muani, who came in before half-time, was sometimes a nuisance in the opposing camp, without it being too alarming for Scaloni’s team. But in the 80th minute, Otamendi conceded a penalty, Mbappe converted it and hope began to live in the French. They did not waste any time. A minute later, Rabiot sends a cross to Mbappe. What followed was legendary as the Parisian striker unleashed a brilliant half-volley that was too well placed for Emiliano to clear. Messi and his teammates took a huge blow to the back of the head, no longer in control, and on the pitch, their team was cut in half.

In stoppage time, the Blues went on the counter and seemed well on their way to a devastating counter but Acuna sent in a killer tackle. The Blues could still finish their action but the referee decides to blow the whistle. The match remains on a parity score and pushes the door to the extra time. 30 minutes of suspense in which Argentina begins to recover. In the 108th minute, Messi roamed in the area and scored the goal that looked like the victory, in fox mode. But since the players of this game decided to offer us a completely crazy scenario, and until the end, Kylian Mbappe gets a penalty in the 118th minute after a hand fault of Montiel. The native of Bondy did not tremble, and put the Blues back on level terms. Kolo Muani’s final chance of the game saw the Aston Villa goalkeeper push his shot away to deny France an unprecedented turnaround. At the end of the 123 minutes of play, the two teams had to go to a penalty shootout to decide the winner, and the rest is history.

Carried by a great Messi, the Albiceleste achieves the feat so long awaited by its fans. But the feat does not stop there, Rodrigo De Paul and Christian Moreno managed to play respectively 102 and 123 minutes without taking a yellow card. A huge achievement considering their performance worthy of the greatest cheats and tricksters of the sport.