Even before a ball was kicked, the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France had all the ingredients needed to become an all-time classic.
Was Lionel Messi about to finally triumph in his last-ever appearance at the tournament or would he be denied by Kylian Mbappe? Could France become the first back-to-back champions since Brazil in 1962, or were Argentina going to win for the first time since a Diego Maradona-inspired victory in 1986?
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In the end it somehow smashed and surpassed all expectations, but for 80 minutes, Argentina were in complete control. Then Mbappe exploded into life. There was a hat-trick, a penalty shootout, an incredible counter-attacking goal and devious mind games.
This final was the perfect antidote to all those tense, cagey finals we’ve been subjected to down the years — this is what made it so good…
The mystery sickness
France faced the grim prospect of lining up against Argentina with a completely new defence. Centre-backs Ibrahima Konate, Raphael Varane and Dayot Upamecano were all struggling with the symptoms of a mystery illness a few days ahead of the final. Left-back Theo Hernandez and holding midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni missed training on Thursday with minor hip and knee injuries respectively too.
In the event, all five ended up playing a part in the final, but the uncertainty would surely have created tension within the camp as France sweated on the fitness of so many key players. Could this have been a factor in their sluggish start?
Lionel Messi’s last dance
Messi has had to live with the pressure of trying to match Maradona’s achievements with Argentina throughout his entire career. The biggest threat to his chances of finally lifting the World Cup trophy was Mbappe, his team-mate at Paris Saint-Germain and one of the potential heirs to his throne as the world’s greatest player.
Messi lost the 2014 final with Argentina to Germany and history repeating itself was unthinkable. Maybe winning it would finally end the debate about whether or not he is better than Cristiano Ronaldo too…
Messi opens the scoring
The game seemed to be following the fairy tale as Messi opened the scoring from the spot after just 23 minutes. Angel Di Maria twisted Ousmane Dembele inside-out to win the penalty and Messi coolly strolled over to pick the ball up.
He started bouncing it around the edge of the box without a care in the world as France’s players argued with the referee. The 35-year-old stared down Hugo Lloris and effortlessly sent him the wrong way.
The goal made him the first player to score in the group stage, last 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final of a World Cup.
Di Maria’s special moment
It was the perfect counter-attacking goal. France were completely ripped apart by a couple of gorgeous passes. Alexis Mac Allister passed it to Messi and he elegantly flicked it around the corner for Julian Alvarez. The forward returned it to Mac Allister who played a no-look first-time ball for Angel Di Maria to slam past Lloris.
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Argentina fans inside the Lusail Stadium were sent into delirium as they tried to work out how they were outclassing France so easily. Any questions about why Di Maria started on the left wing instead of Marcos Acuna had been emphatically answered.
The strike went straight in at No.5 of The Athletic’s ranking of every World Cup final goal.
Deschamps’ early subs
France were in serious danger of getting humiliated by Argentina. Every time their opponents attacked, France’s defence creaked under the pressure. Messi and Rodrigo De Paul started toying with Adrien Rabiot as they flicked the ball over his head, while Jules Kounde looked vulnerable at right-back. Something had to change, so in the 41st minute Didier Deschamps took off Olivier Giroud and Dembele.
It was a brutal move. Giroud became France’s all-time top scorer at this tournament while Dembele is a consistent threat on the wing, but they had been completely anonymous. Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram came on, yet took a while to get warmed up.
Mbappe’s masterclass
At one stage in the second-half, it felt like Argentina had ruined the contest for the neutrals (not to mention their opponents). They were in complete control and France were overwhelmed.
Aurelien Tchouameni was trying to single-handedly run their midfield while Adrien Rabiot and Antoine Griezmann looked completely lost. Kolo Muani and Thuram were energetic, but they lacked finesse in the final third.
France, the 2018 champions, were about to give up their crown without landing a single blow until, finally, in the 80th minute, Mbappe decided to turn up to the party.
Within the space of 97 seconds, Mbappe demonstrated why he is one of the best players of his generation. The 23-year-old tucked away a penalty to make it 2-1 before he produced a sublime equaliser.
Kingsley Coman had charged down Messi on the halfway line and initiated a counter-attack. The ball was switched out to the left and headed it into Mbappe’s path. It was a tight angle, but he volleyed it past Emiliano Martinez into the bottom corner. France were alive after all.
Messi’s moments of fear
Messi had one hand on the World Cup trophy and suddenly he had been tackled, France scored and the game’s momentum completely shifted. He stared up at the screen in disbelief at how Argentina, for the second time at this tournament, had blown a 2-0 lead.
When Thuram went down in the box in injury-time, Messi could not even look at what happened afterwards. He was looking at the floor, contemplating if his World Cup dreams were about to be shattered, when the referee booked Thuram for diving instead. To add insult to injury, the host broadcaster then cut to Thuram’s father — 1998 World Cup-winner Lilian — looking rather disappointed in the crowd.
Messi used that moment as fuel and a couple of minutes later had the entire stadium on their feet. He picked up the ball on the right wing, drifted past his markers and unleashed a shot towards the top corner, but he was denied by Lloris.
When the whistle blew to signal the end of normal time, Argentina’s squad gathered in a circle. Lionel Scaloni gave a passionate team talk while Messi was hunched over with his hands on his knees trying to process how Argentina collapsed.
Argentina chances in extra time
France dropped their intensity in extra time and Argentina started creating chances again. There was a beautiful sequence of play as Messi quickly exchanged a one-two with Mac Allister and then set up Lautaro Martinez inside the box. Martinez’s barren run at the World Cup continued though as he fired straight at Lloris.
Gonzalo Montiel volleyed the rebound towards the top corner but, just as it looked like this match was going to get another wondergoal, Varane headed it away.
Messi and Mbappe exchange blows again
Messi was never going to let his last shot at glory slip through his fingers so easily. Argentina burst through on the counter and Messi followed up Lautaro Martinez’s rebound to put them 3-2 ahead.
Incredibly, Martinez had only been played onside by the very extremity of Varane’s backside.
France looked desperate and ragged. Their tactic was to hit the ball long and hope they could unleash Mbappe’s speed. Deschamps’ side won a corner through sheer persistence which proved to be crucial. The corner dropped towards Mbappe and he fired a shot from the edge of the box which hit Montiel’s arm. The referee pointed to the spot, but a large section of Argentina fans wrongly thought he had awarded a goal kick.
Mbappe stepped up and scored again to force a penalty shootout.
Emiliano Martinez — sh*thouse king
If the people of Argentina ever decide to erect a statue of Emiliano Martinez, it will depict him trying to get into the head of one of France’s penalty takers. The goalkeeper’s antics during the penalty shootout were dastardly. As Coman approached the spot, Martinez picked up the ball and turned around to Argentina’s fans and demanded they make more noise. The sound was deafening inside the stadium and it was not a surprise Coman’s shot was saved.
Martinez took it up another level for Tchouameni as he threw the ball away and made the midfielder retrieve it. It was a pure masterclass in mind games. He received a yellow card from the referee, but the damage had been done. Tchouameni’s shot went wide and Argentina were on their way to victory.
(Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
