Messi has been crowned the best player of the World Cup!
It is safe to say that the Qatar World Cup has been one of the best in terms of experience and overall football quality. The tournament’s final game lived up to our expectations as it served us unlimited drama from start to finish.
One of the highlights of the day was watching our very own Davido deliver a phenomenal performance at the stadium before the game commenced. It was his first outing stage performance since the demise of his son a few weeks ago.
The game was played at the Lusail stadium and it looked like an evenly balanced tie on paper but all that went up in smoke in the 22nd minute when Argentina was awarded a penalty for a tackle on Di Maria. Some will argue that it was a questionable decision, but VAR certified it, and in the 23rd minute, Lionel Messi put the Argentines ahead. It got worse for France as they barely fashioned any chances and in the 36th minute, they conceded another goal scored by Angel Di Maria.
The French manager Didier Deschamp immediately made two substitutions pulling out Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele and replacing them with Marcu Thuram and Kolo Muani.
The substitution paid off in the second half as France played much better but it wasn’t until the 78th minute that they repeat the fruit when France was also awarded a penalty for a foul on Kolo Muani. Kylian Mbappe stepped up and scored the penalty to reduce the deficit.
A few minutes later, France created another beautiful chance that saw Kylian Mbappe through on goal and he made no mistake as he drilled his shot past Emiliano Martinez to make it 2-2.
The game was dragged into extra time and Argentina switched on again. In the 108th minute, they created a beautiful chance that saw Lautaro Martinez through on goal but his shot was saved by Lloris, unfortunately, the rebound fell to Messi and he converted expertly to put Argentina in the lead again.
In the 117th minute, Kylian Mbappe’s shot was deflected in the box but it was done illegally with an arm by Montiel, and France was awarded another penalty. Kylian Mbappe stepped up again and scored making it a Hattrick for him.
The match then extended to Penalties and both Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi stepped up first for their respective teams to score the first penalties. Unfortunately, France went on to miss their next two penalties while Argentina scored theirs. Gonzalo Montiel stepped up for the last penalty and covered it expertly to seal the World cup triumph for Argentina.
Kylian Mbappe won the golden boot, Lionel Messi won the golden ball, and Emiliano Martinex won the golden glove award respectively. Argentine youngster Enzo Fernandes was awarded the best young player of the tournament.
Croatia also defeated Morocco by 2 goals to 1 to clinch the tournament’s bronze medal.
#Sport is a segment that keeps you abreast of everything happening in the world of sports, shares facts, and sometimes also takes you down memory lane to relive some unforgettable sporting moments. In this edition, we are looking at Argentina’s World cup triumph
