Argentina have defeated France 4-2 on penalties after a terrific final on Sunday evening to lift the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The highly contested match had ended 2-2 after regulation time and 3-3 after the extra time, forcing the two football giants to go into a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.
The South American side were put ahead by their inspirational captain, Lionel Messi, who converted from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute.
The 23-year-old forward halved the deficit in the 80th minute from the spot before levelling proceedings just a minute later to drag the match into extra time.
Messi rose to the occasion once more in the 108 minutes to restore the Argentines’ lead but France fired back almost immediately again with Mbappe completing his hat-trick in the 118 minutes.
However, Messi would have the last laugh as Argentina triumphed 4-2 after the penalties.
Though Mbappe would be comforted by winning the Highest Goal Scorer award – after netting eight times, he did his best to help France win a back-to-back world cup.
A victory would have made the Europeans the only third country to have won the trophy back-to-back having won the last edition in Russia. Italy and Brazil are the other two countries to have achieved the feat.
Daily Trust
