After 120 minutes of pure chaos which led to a penalty shootout, Argentina has officially become the 2022 FIFA World Cup Champions.
This was a long time coming for the nation. The last time Argentina won a World Cup was back in 1986 when Diego Maradona was still playing for the national team. Today, Lionel Messi had his final chance to lift up the coveted trophy, and he did just that.
The match started off strong for Argentina, with Messi successfully scoring a penalty kick in the 23rd minute, and Angel Di Maria following up with a second goal in the 36th minute. By halftime, France was down 2-0, and it looked like it was going to be a shutout game, France simply not pushing back hard enough to get themselves near their net.
It took 80 minutes for the action to finally start for their side.
France was finally able to get back in the game after Kylian Mbappe also scored a penalty kick, which was quickly followed by a second goal by Mbappe the following minute. In less than two minutes, Kylian Mbappe managed to turn the game on its head.
The game went to overtime, where Messi scored his second goal of the match, but it simply wasn’t enough. After an Argentinian player blocked the ball with his elbow in the penalty zone, France was awarded a second penalty, which Mbappe took advantage of, equalizing for the second time that match. The game ended 3-3, and they were heading to penalties.
Mbappe successfully kicked the ball into the net for France’s first penalty kick, but it wasn’t enough. France’s players fell short, their ball being blocked by Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, only allowing one other French player to kick the ball into the net.
In the end, Argentina won the penalty shootout 4-2.
With this win, Argentina now has won three World Cup trophies and becomes the fourth country with the most World Cup wins, right behind Brazil with five, and Italy and Germany with four.
Lionel Messi now officially adds “World Cup Winner” to his extensive list of accomplishments he’s had in his career, cementing his as the GOAT of the sport.
“I doubted them, I’m not going to lie,” one student says. “I didn’t think Argentina would end up winning; I was rooting for Brazil.”
The third-place match, on the other hand, took place on Saturday, December 17, with Croatia winning 2-1 against Morocco.
The game started off strong, with Croatia scoring a goal within the first seven minutes, but Morocco quickly found the equalizer two minutes later. Before the end of the first half, Croatia scored a second goal, that goal being the deciding factor to win the match for Croatia.
Croatia took third place, while Morocco becomes the first African nation to place in the Top 4 in the FIFA World Cup.
“I would have liked to see Morocco win, so I was kind of bummed,” another student said. “But, Croatia has been really good, so I’m not that mad about it.”
