This was a fantastic tournament on the pitch. Not quite the best tournament of all time, but still very good nonetheless. We should remember it for the football, not who hosted it.
I can remember watching World Cup finals going back to the late 90s, and I have to say that this was the best one I have ever seen. An absolutely thrilling match in every way.
Argentina vs. France
The opening half of this match belonged to the South Americans, full stop. They were better in possession and looked much more threatening in attack. They went up 1-0 on 23 minutes from the penalty spot, after Argie winger Angel Di Maria went down in the French penalty area. The contact on Di Maria from French winger Ousmane Dembélé appeared to be minimal, but Di Maria is a master of making the most out of contact in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. The legendary attacking midfielder and captain Lionel Messi stepped up to the spot, and with the eyes of the entire world on him, he calmly sent French keeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way for the first goal of the match.
La Albiceleste extended their lead on 36 minutes after a very swift and precise counter-attack. They won the ball just outside their own box and after a series of neat passes involving Messi and striker Julián Álvarez, the ball was played to midfielder Alexis Mac Allister in space just outside the French penalty area on the right side. Mac Allister hit a deft diagonal pass back across the face of goal along the ground, where it found Di Maria streaking toward the back post. He redirected his first-time shot back across Lloris and into the right hand corner of the net. He wheeled away in celebration of a beautiful counter-attacking goal. Di Maria has not played much this tournament due to injury and fitness issues, but he still an incredible player and he certainly contributed heavily today. The two goal deficit forced France into tactical substitutions on just 40 minutes, a rarity at this level. At 2-0 though, Argentina went into halftime with one hand on the Jules Rimet trophy.
But it was indeed only one hand. They needed to come out and continue attacking the French, but for whatever reason they did not seem as committed to doing that as they were against Croatia in the semis. This approach was a cause for concern. Yes it was 2-0, but the Argentines have given up two goal leads at this very tournament. Their defense is good, but they have problems holding up to sustained pressure with no outlet. Almost any defense would. They kept France out for about 34 minutes or so, but everything changed on 79 minutes when French striker Randal Kolo Muani was fouled in the box after beating his defender to the ball. Truth be told, if the light contact in the box on Di Maria earlier was a penalty, then this one was definitely a penalty. Muani sold it well, but the contact on the back of his leg was much more significant than the one on Di Maria earlier. Superstar striker Kylian Mbappé stepped up to the spot and planted the ball past a diving Emiliano Martinez in goal to pull one back for Les Bleus. Martinez frustratingly got a hand to the ball, but the shot had so much power on it that he couldn’t keep it out.
This match turned into absolute bedlam just a minute later though, barely after the restart. France won the ball in the Argentina third, and Mbappé played a very neat 1-2 with forward/winger Marcus Thuram on the left side of the Argentine penalty area. Thuram’s neat ball over the top found a sliding Mbappe, who swept home with an impressive finish from about 16 yards that Martinez had no chance at. A truly impressive goal from a very impressive striker. Argentina were shell-shocked and the French were in ecstasy. The Argies had this match won, but they lost their heads for just a moment France punished them. The goals in quick succession late on were also typical of France. They had done largely nothing in this match in terms of creating dangerous chances, until they all of a sudden decided to start playing aggressive roughly 80 minutes in. Argentina brought this on themselves though. A third goal at any point before then would have salted the match away, but they played too conservative and took their foot off the gas. There was chances for both sides after that goal, but after 90 minutes and stoppage time it was still 2-2.
Extra time would be needed to decide this match, and the chaos would continue for another 30 minutes. Argentina had been attacking more since the French goals, and France’s defense was looking shaky at best. Lloris had to spectacularly deny Messi the winner in stoppage time from long distance. They’d always manage to get the final block or clearance in, but Argentina were in the ascendancy for the first half of extra time. They got their reward on 108 minutes from the magical Messi once again. The Argentine front 3 combined well with a series of passes that quickly found substitute striker Lautaro Martinez. Martinez unleashed a wicked shot from about 12 yards out on the right side that Lloris did well to save, but the rebound fell straight to Messi who powered a shot over the line. A French defender cleared the ball out quickly, but he was at least 3 yards inside his own goal and the ball definitively crossed the line before he cleared it. Messi celebrated with his teammates and after a quick VAR check for offside, the goal stood. 3-2!
Argentina supporters had thought they won it. And normally, a goal that late is the winner. But France weren’t done. There would be one more twist of the knife, and it came on 118 minutes when France were awarded a second penalty. A shot from Mbappé towards goal was blocked by Argentina, but it came off the elbow of right back Gonzalo Montiel in the area. I saw this exact same thing happen in a Paris St. Germain match in the Champions League a few seasons ago – a defender jumping and turning in the air to make a block that results in a handball. Defenders are trained to turn their backs to the ball when trying to clear an oncoming shot, but a side effect of jumping into the air is that one’s arms tend to be raised up to one’s sides. Under the old handball rules this kind of deflection likely would not be a penalty as the defender wouldn’t even be looking at the ball, but nowadays if the arm is an “unnatural position” when it contacts the ball, it’s a penalty. What constitutes “unnatural” however is not always clear. It looked harsh on Montiel, but it’s the correct call under the current rules. Mbappé confidently stepped up and dispatched his penalty to complete his hat-trick on the day. He sent Martinez the wrong way, and in doing so became just the second man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final. 3-3!
The French got one more gilt-edged chance in stoppage time of extra time when Argentina failed to clear a bouncing ball over the top and it fell to Kolo Muani on the edge of the area. Martinez rushed out and made himself big, and in doing so pulled off one of the biggest saves of the tournament with his left leg. Kolo Muani should have scored and he knew it. The final whistle blew though shortly after that and we were headed to penalties.
Penalties are always a test of nerves, and it was the Argentines who had slightly more nerve. The keeper Martinez is a big man of course but he has an equally big personality, and he is never short on confidence. His aura alone was much more imposing than that of Lloris. Aside from Mbappé, I wasn’t really impressed with any of the French penalty takers. They weren’t willing to take risks with their shots in the same way Argentina was. The French missed one penalty wide, and I think 1-2 more of them were saved by Martinez. When Montiel redeemed himself for the penalty by scoring the winner, Messi sank to his knees in the center circle and yelled with joy while he was mobbed by his teammates. Argentina won 4-2 on penalties!
Leo Messi is the greatest player ever. Hands down, no two ways about it. People talk about Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Cristiano Ronaldo all being the greatest, but it’s Messi. He has the skills, the accolades, and now he has a World Cup to hang his hat on. He has brought Argentina it’s third world cup and it’s first in 36 years, and the reactions from the people in the streets of Buenos Aires was magical. Pure elation and joy. Well done to Messi, all of his teammates, and manager Lionel Scaloni. His tactics in this match almost cost them, but not even a poor 2nd half plan could stop Messi achieving destiny. Watching him raise the trophy with his teammates was amazing to behold. His little kiss on the trophy as he walked past it earlier will be an iconic photo for years to come.
Despite the Herculean efforts of Mbappé, he could not drag his country over the line. France’s injuries finally caught up to them, and truth be told they were lucky to still be in the match despite doing basically nothing for the first 78 minutes. In most scenarios, Argentina wins this handily 2-0 in 90 minutes. It was primarily due to Mbappé that France even made it to penalties. While Messi is done at the World Cup, Mbappé is only just getting started. If France can have better luck with injuries next time, they can still easily win it in 2026.
Individual Awards:
Golden Gloves winner (best keeper) – Emiliano Martinez
Best Young Player – Enzo Fernandez
Golden Boot (top scorer) – Kylian Mbappé (8)
Golden Ball (best player) – Lionel Messi
And with that, the World Cup is over for another four years. I’ve really enjoyed doing these write-ups, and I want to thank everyone who took the time to read. Wish it was a different result for England, but us losing is nothing new. Now it’s time for a few days off before the domestic leagues start again. Manchester United play in the League Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday, Dec. 21! Congrats to Argentine center back Lisandro Martinez on bringing a World Cup winner’s medal back to the red half of Manchester!
4-4-2 