Messi’s dream come true: Argentina win the 2022 World Cup

Clash of the Titans

What we have all been waiting for has finally happened. The World Cup in Qatar has come to an end. France head coach Didier Deschamps has already taken his place among the greats of the world championships as a player and coach. He could become the first coach to win two titles in a row in the post-war history of the World Cup. But…

In addition to the intrigue with Deschamps, a clash of the brightest football stars awaited us in the final. Messi, 35, who said this was his last championship, met 23-year-old PSG teammate Kylian Mbappé. Both players have already scored five goals in Qatar. Now it remains to decide which of them is cooler.

The quirks of the Parisians

The leadership of the Paris metro decided to rename one of its stations – the Argentine stop (fr. Argentine. — Approx. ed.). At the time of the final, this station became known as “France”, and the original name was simply covered with banners “Forward, blue!”.

The French Interior Ministry was in no mood for jokes. Security has been stepped up across the country, with an additional 14,000 police officers on the streets. And the shopkeepers on the Champs Elysees in Paris, taught by bitter experience, boarded up the shop windows with wooden shields, fearing the revelry of the fans.

The virus attacks the French

In the last few days leading up to the final, several players of the national team fell ill – defenders Upamecano, Konate, Varane, midfielder Rabiot and striker Coman. This could affect the preparation of the team. However, Varane, Konate, Coman, Tchuameni, Hernandez, Rabiot and Upamecano worked out at the pre-match training session along with the rest of the players.

“We are trying to take the maximum precautions, doing the best we can. When preparing for such a match, you need to remain calm. Not only the match is important, but also the context. Although I know that all Argentines and maybe some French would also like Messi to win the title, ”Deschamps said on the eve of the final.

“This tournament is too important to focus on one player (Messi. — Approx. ed.). This is the final between two great nations. This game is not only against him. The strength of our team lies in the fact that we can adapt to any development of the situation, ”the French captain Hugo Lloris supported his mentor.

Song for Messi

All of Argentina tried to inspire their team to win. The Colón Opera House in Buenos Aires posted a video of a children’s choir performing in support of Albicelesta, which immediately went viral.

On the eve of the match, Argentinean head coach Scaloni said that he had already decided on a strategy and intended to play in such a way that his team could harm opponents as much as possible and suffer itself as little as possible.

“It takes a collective effort to stop Mbappe. But France is more than just Mbappe. We need to focus on making a good game together. The final match is much more than Lionel Messi vs. Mbappe, it’s Argentina vs. France. My colleague Deschamps and I have the necessary weapons so that other players can decide the outcome of the game, and not necessarily these two. Let’s hope we win,” Scaloni said.

referee question

Many experts were sure that the choice of referees for the final match was influenced by politicians. It was assumed that the game could be entrusted to the English brigade led by Anthony Taylor, but when it became clear that the Argentines would play in the final, his appointment became impossible. Because of the war in the Falklands that happened 40 years ago.

Therefore, FIFA entrusted the decisive game to the Polish brigade led by Szymon Marchiniak.

Incredible ending

Even before the starting whistle, the great Messi began to rewrite records. The duel with the French became the 26th match for the Argentinean at the World Championships. And he managed to get around another legendary football player – the German Lothar Matthäus.

In the first half, the A’s played with inspiration and courage. The first call for the French rang already in the 4th minute, when Alvarez, after a pass into the penalty area, tried to strike at Lloris’s goal, but was offside. By the way, this game, the 20th in a row at the World Championships, was also a record for the French goalkeeper. He was ahead of another German – Manuel Neuer, who had 19 games on his account.

The French tried to seize the initiative, but they failed. And then it was time for new Messi records.

In the 22nd minute, Angel Di Maria burst into the penalty area from the left, where Dembele knocked him down. Marciniak awarded a penalty, which Albiselesta gave her captain to take. Messi calmly opened the scoring, driving the Argentine fans crazy.

Thanks to this goal, Lionel became the first football player in history to score at all stages of the championship – in the group stage, in the 1/8 finals, in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. Having hit the gates of the French, the Argentine not only topped the table of scorers of the 2022 World Cup, beating Mbappe, but also caught up with the legendary Pelé in the number of goals in the world championships.

Having missed, the French swam completely. And in the 36th minute we conceded the second goal. In which Messi also participated. He passed the ball to Mac Allister, who sent the ball into the box for Di Maria. And that exact blow doubled the advantage of Argentina.

Deschamps tried to fix things by making a double substitution in the 40th minute. Giroud and Dembele left the field, giving way to Mouani and Thuram, but the teams left for the break with the score 2:0 in favor of La Scaloneta. And Messi got another record: he surpassed Paolo Maldini in the number of minutes played at the world championships.

In addition, Lionel became the first footballer to have more than 16 years between the first and last goals at the World Cup, the first footballer with 20 scoring actions at the World Cup and the first to play 19 World Cup matches as captain.

The Argentines started the second half as confidently as the first forty-five minutes, immediately showing who is the real world champion. The French lost to them in all respects. And the final of the 1998 championship again surfaced in my memory. Then the great Brazilian team was ingloriously defeated by the French – 0:3. In which the current head coach of the Blues Didier Deschamps shone. The Brazilians frankly “leaked” that game. And exactly the same thing was happening right now in front of Deschamps – his team just as ingloriously merged this final. As if the football god decided to teach the French specialist some very important life lesson.

And Deschamps learned this lesson, breathing life into the faded French with a formidable lion’s roar from the edge. Who wouldn’t be themselves if they didn’t return to battle.

In the 71st minute, Deschamps again made a double substitution, releasing Camavinga and Coman instead of Griezmann and Hernandez. And youth took its toll. The “blues” got a second wind, and they rushed forward. And in the 79th minute, they got the right to a penalty kick, which Mbappe confidently converted, returning to the goalscoring race. But before that, he was almost invisible on the field.

But that’s not all. A minute later, Kilian equalized the score, rebounding with Thuram. At this point, the cameras snapped out a smiling Messi, whose records began to become obsolete right in the course of this crazy final.

The last twenty minutes, taking into account the time added to the second half, both teams spent in crazy attacks. And in the last minutes of regular time, Messi almost did a miracle, powerfully punching from under the defender right in the center of the gate. The ball flew like a bullet and wagged to the side right in front of Lloris’s face, but he confidently took it in his hands. And the game went into overtime.

Added time Scaloni began with a substitution, releasing Montiel instead of Molina. Deschamps responded by substituting Rabiot for Fofan, nearly running out of line-up limits, while his counterpart had four more options to make amends to this game that had already become a world football classic.

The first fifteen minutes was full of mutual attacks. But, as befits a real drama, fate has in store for the denouement for the last segment of the game. The hero of which, of course, was Messi and Mbappe. The Argentinian gave his team the lead in the 109th minute, while the Frenchman equalized from the penalty spot in the 118th minute. And it was the first ever hat-trick in the final matches of the World Cup. It is not surprising that such a game could not be completed even in extra time. And the winner of the 22nd World Championship was eventually determined in a series of penalty kicks.

They became the national team of Argentina, whose nerves turned out to be more iron, and goalkeeper Martinez was more successful. However, could it be otherwise? After all, this World Cup from the very beginning was intended for the great Messi, who has now definitely entered the pantheon of football legends.

Don’t cry, France, your time is yet to come!