Argentina Upstage France On Penalties To Win Frenetic World Cup Final
Argentina are the new world champions after they upstaged France on penalties following a frenetic 3-3 draw after extra time.
In a game that saw Paris Saint Germain teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe dominate the pre-match talks, the Argentina and France talismen duly walked the talk.
Messi scored twice on the day while Mbappe completed a hattrick at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Sunday.
Messi put Argentina ahead from the spot in the 22nd minute after Ousmane Dembele fouled the impressive Angel Di Maria in the box.
Di Maria doubled Argentina's lead in the 36th minute following a thrilling sequence of passes that also involved Messi and Alexis MacAllister.
Argentina's second goal rattled France boss Didier Deschamps, who made two changes before halftime, taking off Olivier Giroud and Dembele for Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram.
But France remained behind until ten minutes from time when Mbappe, who up until then had been kept quiet, burst into life.
Nicolas Otamendi tumbled over Kolo Muani in the box and Mbappe tucked home the resulting spot kick.
In a trice, France wiped off Argentina's lead as Mbappe struck a sweet half volley in the 81st minute past Emiliano Martinez in the Argentina goal.
The score remained 2-2 after regulation time but Messi struck in the 108th minute of extra time to give Argentina the lead once again.
But Mbappe found another equaliser for France in the 118th minute from the penalty spot to send the game into a penalty shootout.
Argentina found the back of the net with all four spot kicks but Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed to give Albiceleste their third World Cup title and their first since 1986.
