Argentina win World Cup on stunning penalty shootout against France
(VOVWORLD) - Football superstar Lionel Messi hoisted the coveted FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy as Argentine team beat France, the defending champions, 4-2 on penalties following a dramatic 3-3 draw after extra time on Sunday evening in Doha, Qatar.
 The 2022 World Cup championship belongs to Lionel Messi and his teammates. (Photo: Reuters)
|
Messi successfully took a penalty kick to open the score for Argentina. 13 minutes later, Angel Di Maria scored. Di Maria, who had been included in the main squad by coach Lionel Scaloni in the last minute before the final match, made it 2-0 to Argentina after just 36 minutes.
After leading 2-0 in the first half, Argentina slowed down and played surely in the second half. However, Scaloni's decision to withdraw Di Maria caused the South American team to lose possession of the ball in the middle of the pitch. In the 80th minute, Kylian Mbappe scored for the French team from a penalty kick. Less than a minute later, the Paris Saint-Germain star leveled 2-2 for France.
In the 109th minute, Messi finished accurately, raising the score to 3-2. But like the previous scenario, in the 118th minute, France was awarded a penalty kick and Mbappe well performed it, leveling 3-3. With a draw result, the two teams entered a penalty shootout and Argentina won against France with a penalty score of 4-2.
 Messi wins the 2022 World Cup Golden Ball. (Photo: Getty)
|
Superstar Lionel Messi made history as he won the title of "Best Player of the tournament" scoring 7 goals and having 3 assists. France young talent Kylian Mbappe was awarded the Golden Boot with 8 goals. Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez won the Golden Glove award and his teammate Enzo Fernandez was honored with best young player award.