Lionel Messi dribbles the ball on the pitch during the 2022 FIFA World Cup final match 10 AFA 10 H
The stakes were incredibly high for Lionel Messi at the FIFA Men's World Cup on December 18 2022. In 18 years of playing professional soccer he had already claimed an Olympic gold medal several Ballon d'Or awards Champions League titles and much more The World Cup was the one trophy he was missing Messi the captain of La Albiceleste Argentina's national team took to the pitch for the World Cup final match It was Messi's 26th World Cup game an all-time men's World Cup record La Albiceleste faced reigning champion France at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar About 89,000 fans packed the stands Thousands of Argentinians had traveled from South America to the Middle East- over 8,000 miles 12,875 km -to support their team In addition about one and a half billion people watched on screens around the world Soccer is the world's most popular sport and the World Cup is its biggest event 7
10 8 com cry Messi left fights for control of the ball during the 2022 World Cup final match In the first half Messi powered a left-footed penalty kick into the right corner Goal Soon teammate Ángel Di María scored Argentina's second goal for a 2-0 lead France rallied late in the second half In about 90 seconds French forward Kylian Mbappé scored two goals The teams were tied 2-2 after 90 minutes and injury time forcing the match into overtime In the 108th minute Argentina's Lautaro Martínez took a shot that was deflected by the French goalie When the ball came in Messi's direction he kicked it in to give his team a 3-2 lead But Mbappé scored another penalty
9 1 3 22 11 21 kick goal in the 118th minute to put the score at 3-3 The winner would be decided by a penalty shootout Messi and Mbappé went first for their respective teams Mbappé scored Then Messi rolled his left-footed kick into the left corner of the net Argentina's goalie Emiliano Martínez deflected France's next two attempts to score and stopped another shot Argentina made all of its attempts Messi had finally helped his home country win the trophy he had been chasing for years Meanwhile back in Argentina people celebrated their team's triumph in the streets 1121 20 22 Messi holding the trophy celebrates winning the 2022 World Cup with his teammates
