France’s national team, had a historic loss to their opponent, in a fairytale final match. The people of Buenos Aires aren’t going to sleep tonight!

Many thought the final match between Argentina and France was going to be practical and not particularly exciting. However, Messi, Mbappé and others, produced a display of such brilliance, that fans will be talking about this game for decades to come. The game was a legendary one, whose script could never have been written better by the greatest film directors in the world.

France Brought Out Their Best Lineup for the Final

It seems like only four years ago, France defeated Argentina in the round of 16 at the World Cup in Russia. Back then it appeared, that Lionel Messi’s (the top player for Argentina) last chance to win a world championship would be at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, because Leo would be 35 years old by then. However, Leo turned 35, and for the second time in his career, he made it to the World Cup final. Instead of Germany standing in the way of Messi and the rest of the players, it was France.
France, who was nearly invincible four years ago in Russia and currently, yes, Didier Deschamps’ players lost to Tunisia in Qatar, but it was in a relatively meaningless group stage match. When France needs to, they produce performances that leave no one unimpressed. The only potential problem France may have had was the numerous injuries to key players, before and during the World Cup, and that a virus was going through the team. By the time of the final, however, Deschamps had assembled a fairly healthy squad. Mbappé, Giroud, Griezmann, Varane, Rabiot, and Dembélé all began the game.
Similarly, the same can be said for Argentina. Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s head coach, experimented quite a bit with the starting lineup during the tournament. However, during the playoff rounds, it appears that Scaloni has narrowed down the choices for his starting lineup. In the attack, Scaloni chose to start the young and talented Julián Álvarez once again, and in the midfield, Scaloni selected Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, and Alexis Mac Allister to be in charge. Additionally, Scaloni started Angel Di Maria, who had missed multiple World Cup matches due to injury.

Talent Julian Alvarez – mancity.com

Argentina Controlled the Game and Earned Both Goals Fairly Easily

From the beginning of the game, the Argentines were controlling the game and pinning their opponents back in their own half. Mac Allister took a strong shot from distance, De Paul had a great opportunity, fired from the edge of the box but hit a French defender, and the ball bounced off the defender and near the right post of Lloris’ goal. Shortly after that, the French goalkeeper was injured. Lloris collided with an Argentine player and could not get up for several minutes. Deschamps was worried, but luckily, Hugo was able to continue.
At the 15th minute, Messi became involved in the game. Leo received the ball close to the box and had several options of how to progress the attack, but his pass to Álvarez was unsuccessful and spoiled a dangerous situation. A minute later, Messi distributed the ball perfectly, allowing Di María to receive a cross from the right flank in the center of the French box. Unfortunately for the Argentines, Ángel had to shoot with his right foot, and the ball sailed over the goal.
For the first 20 minutes, France did little else than Giroud’s header from a free-kick delivery, but unfortunately for the French, Olivier headed it over and committed a foul. Argentina continued to pressure. And this time, one of the attacks paid dividends. Di María easily beat Dembélé on the flank, ran into the box and was clearly fouled by Ousmane. There was no question about the penalty.
Of course, Messi was the player to take the penalty kick. Leo does not always convert penalties in big games, so all of Argentina held its collective breath in anxious anticipation. But they worried for nothing. The Argentine captain left Lloris no chance and put his team ahead—1:0. And in the process, he tied with Mbappé in the Golden Boot scoring race; prior to the final, both he and Mbappé had five goals each.

Argentina’s Second Goal and Deschamps’ Double Substitution

France found themselves in a very unfamiliar position. In the playoffs, they had not yet trailed in a game. Deschamps had to find a solution to the problem of Argentina controlling the ball, as they were clearly dominant in the midfield. Several minutes later, all of Argentina cringed when a nasty collision occurred between Messi and Theo Hernández. But Leo got up and continued playing.
The French still could not do anything against their opponents. They were simply invisible — neither Mbappé, nor Giroud, nor Griezmann. Dembélé was the only bright spot for the French, but that was only in terms of one action, and it resulted in a penalty against his team. Argentina continued to dominate and logically scored their second goal. Scaloni’s men were magnificent coming out of the defense, Messi played a great ball to the right flank to Mac Allister, who cut a pass to Di María. All Ángel had to do was not mess this up and he accomplished his task — 2:0.
Deschamps made an extraordinary move and made a double substitution before halftime. Replaced Giroud and Dembele with Kolo Muani and Thurama. At first glance, the decision may appear illogical, but both Giroud and Dembélé were completely ineffective in the first half. Mbappé was not effective either, but no coach in the world would make the bold decision to bench him.

Prior to the break, the French were able to bring the game closer to Argentina’s goal, but they were unable to create any decisive opportunities. The only positive thing the French could take from the first half was the yellow card given to Argentina’s central midfielder, Enzo Fernández, who will now have to be much more careful.

France Attempted to Take Control, But Failed

In the second half, France attempted to gain possession of the ball, but in the first minutes after the break, the image of the game did not change. Argentina still seemed more confident than their opponents and Mbappé was committing more fouls than creating any real danger. On the 50th minute, De Paul completed a combination well, but Lloris was in position. Shortly after that, De Paul was the focus of attention again, when he was roughed up by Rabiot and received a well-deserved yellow card.
Nearer to the midpoint of the second half, Scaloni’s men began to play on counterattacks, but they still appeared more energetic than their opponents.

Scaloni’s players have started playing more – dailymail.co.uk

Álvarez, Messi and Mac Allister had quality opportunities to seal the deal, but the French, led by Lloris, continued to hold on and keep the suspense alive. On the 64th minute, Scaloni made a double substitution, replacing Di María, who was getting tired after a fantastic first half. Messi and the Argentinians were only twenty minutes away from the coveted title.
During the same time frame, Deschamps made another double substitution. Griezmann and Hernandez were replaced by Coman and Camavinga. Thus, from France’s primary attacking trio, only Kylian Mbappé remained. Griezmann, Giroud and Dembélé could no longer help their team. And that told a lot about what was happening on the field.

Mbappé Shows His Magic. How Does He Do It?

There was no indication that trouble awaited Argentina, who, along with Messi, were marching toward the coveted title, that would give Leo the opportunity to once and for all, settle any debate about his greatness in soccer. And then Mbappé finally woke up. The Frenchman completely changed the direction of the game in just two minutes. First, Mbappé converted a penalty for a foul on Kolo Muani, and then in the very next attack, he equalized — 2-2. The Frenchmen played a one-two at the edge of the box, Thuram passed to Mbappé, who struck Martínez’s goal. Fantastic! No one anticipated that.
Argentina, who had controlled the field until the 80th minute, effectively gave the game to their opponents in the next 120 seconds. More importantly, observe Deschamps’ work. The seemingly illogical substitutions he made in the first half, ultimately proved 100% effective, as both Kolo Muani and Thuram contributed to the French goals. On an emotional high, the Frenchmen rushed to the goal to score a third, but the game was already heading into extra time. What was being displayed was the type of soccer that everyone wants to see repeatedly.

Craziness in Extra Time

What was being seen was extremely similar to the match between Argentina and the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Just like that game, the Argentines had a 2-goal lead, but conceded two late goals. Nevertheless, the Argentines did not collapse in the extra time of the final either. Although it was evident that in situations like this, the psychological advantage shifts to the opponent, Lautaro Martinez entered the game and performed admirably, after having a lackluster performance throughout the World Cup. In the critical moment, Martinez created chance after chance. It was he who shot from a tight angle at Lloris’ goal, on the 109th minute. Lloris deflected the ball, but Messi was the first to the rebound and scored a goal for Argentina — 3:2. And once again, he equaled Mbappé in the scorers’ list; both now had seven goals. That is simply on a cosmic level, excuse the cliche. But there is no other way to describe the performances of these forwards.

If you thought that was it, you were wrong again. Three minutes before the end of extra time, Mbappé earned a penalty and converted it himself — 3:3. Pure madness!

The Conclusion. Messi — World Champion!

Ultimately, the fate of the World Cup was determined in a penalty shootout. Emiliano Martínez vs. Hugo Lloris. Leo Messi vs. Kylian Mbappé. Latin America vs. Europe. Mbappé and Messi both successfully converted their penalty kicks, but Coman could not beat Martínez. Then, Tchouaméni was wide of the mark, while the Argentinians did not miss and won 4:2. That’s all. Argentina — World Champions. Messi — World Champion.
Maybe, there has not been a more beautiful story in football recently. Leo deserves this honor with his whole career, and Mbappé will have more than one World Cup to prove himself as a great footballer. For now, Buenos Aires will celebrate, and not Paris.