Lionel Messi receives the trophy after Argentina defeats France 3-3 in penalty kicks to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The World Cup was Argentina’s first victory since 1986.
After reaching full time tied at 3-3, Argentina defeated France in a penalty kick shootout to defeat the defending champion and win the 2022 World Cup. The game had headed into an additional 30 minutes in a 2-2 tie.
France had two penalties, but Argentina had four.
Following his team’s victory over Croatia in the semi-finals last week, popular Argentine athlete Lionel Messi announced that the anticipated match would be his final World Cup match. Messi received the coveted Golden Ball, which is given to the tournament’s best player, following their victory in the final. He is currently the only player in World Cup history to win the Golden Ball twice.
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In the match on Sunday, Argentina made a strong start and led France 2-0 at halftime. During the first half, Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria scored goals. Messi scored on a penalty kick in the 23rd minute after a foul on Di Maria. Di Maria scored thirteen minutes later after completing a five-pass team move with a deft flick from Messi. In the 71st minute, France’s Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring for his team and quickly added another.
Mbappé became only the second player to complete a hat trick in a World Cup final, scoring three goals in a single match. The team’s third goal came from a penalty kick. Regardless of France’s misfortune, Mbappé was granted the Brilliant Boot as the competition’s top objective scorer.
Di Maria started in place of Leandro Paredes in the midfield for the first time since suffering a foot injury in Argentina’s match against Poland in the final round of group games. The team again used a 4-4-2 system, with Messi leading as one of two forwards. Mbappé and Olivier Giroud, who had recovered from a minor knee injury, started in front for France. Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot also got on the field after Ibrahima Konaté and Youssouf Fofana, respectively, took their places due to illness.
Messi is the first player to score in both the group stage and every round of the knockout stage of a single World Cup. He currently has 13 goals. Mbappé, on the other hand, has the same number of 12 as Brazilian icon Pelé.
Messi’s attendance at the World Cup for the 26th time was a record in and of itself, breaking a tie with Lothar Matthäus of Germany. Those matches have been spread more than five World Cups, starting in 2006. With 12 goals, Messi is tied with Pelé for sixth place in World Cup history for most goals by a single player.
French President Emmanuel Macron was among the jubilant fans who filled the Lusail stadium stands on Sunday. Around 45 minutes before the opening shot, Macron was seen talking in the celebrity segment with Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, who played for four seasons at Paris Holy person Germain, and France midfielder Paul Pogba, who has needed to watch the whole World Cup from the sidelines because of a physical issue.
Pogba scored the winning goal for France in the World Cup final in 2018, but he was ineligible to play in this tournament. In addition, Macron went to the final four years ago, when France defeated Croatia 4-2, and afterwards he celebrated with players in the locker room.
The soccer federation of the World Cup champions will receive $42 million in prize money, while the team that lost in the final will receive $30 million from a $440 million FIFA prize fund.
Although it is anticipated that players will receive a significant portion of the funds, not all of them do. According to a report in the French sports daily L’Equipe, French players like Kylian Mbappé are likely to receive a bonus from their federation for winning the final of 554,000 euros (or $586,000).
The prize money for the third-place team, Croatia, was $27 million, and the prize money for the fourth-place team, Morocco, is $25 million.
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