An Incredible World Cup Final- Argentina Rules The World.
| By Admin.
In what may have been the most extraordinary World Cup final ever, Argentina beat France in large part because of Lionel Messi, who played a career-defining game. In what he said would be his last World Cup game, Messi scored two of the team’s three goals as well as the first goal in the team’s penalty shootouts. |
| Argentina scored two goals in the first half, as France seemed slack and uncertain. Then, in the space of less than two minutes in the second half, Kylian Mbappé scored back-to-back goals for France, tying the game. In extra time, Messi and Mbappé each scored a goal. Finally, in the shootout, Argentina won on penalties, 4-2, as the crowd in Qatar burst into tears of joy and grief. |
| For Mbappé, it was a devastating result, his coach, Didier Deschamps, said. “Kylian has really left his mark on this final,” he said. “Unfortunately, he didn’t leave it in the way he would have liked. That’s why he was so disappointed at the end of the night.” France, which won the last World Cup, had hoped to be the first country to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962. |
| Buenos Aires: “Grown men are sobbing,” my colleague Jack Nicas reported from Argentina’s capital, minutes before the game ended. “‘Argentina, mi amor!’ the man next to me just shouted, tears streaming down his face.” |
| Messi: He left Argentina at age 13 and has lived in the shadow of Diego Maradona, who hoisted the World Cup trophy for Argentina 36 years ago. Now, the country has unequivocally embraced Messi, who won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
Credit: The New York Times. |
