New Delhi, Dec 19, 2022: World Cup 2022 drew to an end with Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina lifting the trophy by defeating returning champions France.
Held at the Lusail stadium in Qatar, the final turned out to be a nail-biting one with the winner of the tournament emerging after a penalty shootout.
Messi opened the scoreboard in the first half of the match after the Argentinian team was awarded a penalty. Argentina’s Di Maria took the country’s lead to 2-0 against France in the 2nd half.
During the penultimate minutes of the match, France’s Kylian Mbappe scored two back to back goals to equalize with Argentina. Both countries scored one goal each during added time to take the scoreline to 3-3.
As the match carried on to penalties, Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved 2 penalties to help his team clinch a dramatic 4-2 victory in penalty shootout.
Following their win, fans took to the internet to heap praises on the star footballer, Lionel Messi. Messi also took home the Golden Ball trophy for best player of the tournament. Meanwhile, Mbappe won the Golden Boot as he top scored with eight goals.
Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez claimed the Golden Glove award and Enzo Fernandez won the Best Young Player award.
The South American country previously won in 1978 and 1986. With their win in FIFA World Cup 2022, Argentina has become the country to win most number of World Cups after Brazil. The next World Cup in 2026 will be jointly hosted by USA, Mexico and Canada.
