The ultimate World Cup final

They say the World Cup unites us all and, for 2 and a half hours this past Sunday, it did exactly that. The world watched as France looked to defend their crown against an Argentinean side led by Lionel Messi, looking to solidify his status as the greater player of all time. The match was full of drama and moments that will be remembered forever, and there’s a lot to breakdown. 

The first half went how very few expected, with Argentina completely dominating the French. A penalty kick goal from Lionel Messi and a goal  off a beautiful sequence from Àngel Di María saw France down 2-0 heading into halftime. However, France were the defending champions for a reason, and it seemed inevitable they’d show up eventually. After some gutsy yet genius substitutions made by France’s manager, Didier Deschamps, that saw key players like Giroud and Dembele subbed off much earlier than expected, France finally was able to draw a penalty in the 80th minute. Young superstar Kylian Mbappé put it through, and France had cut the lead half. A minute later, the legend of Mbappé would continue to grow, as he shot a rocket into the net to even the score 2-2. We had ourselves a ball game. 

For Argentina and its fans, the tying goal was the biggest “oh no” moment imaginable. It seemed like they had France put away, but they left the door open for the defending champions, and they had taken advantage. After a couple more chances for both sides that resulted in nothing, the whistle sounded to mark the end of regulation. This World Cup Final would need extra time. In extra time, it seemed that Messi got his storybook moment when he scored a goal off of a rebound to put Argentina ahead in the 108th minute. However, once again, Argentina would blow a late lead. After a handball committed just inside the box, Kylian Mbappé found himself at the penalty spot once again with the weight of an entire country on his shoulders. Seemingly calm as ever, he put it in the back of the net. It was a hat trick for Mbappé, the first one a World Cup final had seen since the 60’s. The drama didn’t end here, however. Both goalkeepers Emiliano Martinez and Hugo Lloris would make game-saving stops to send this game to where it seemed destined to finish; penalty kicks. 

The first kick of the shootout for each team went as expected, with both superstars Messi and Mbappe capping off their incredible performances by putting the ball in the back of the net. However, they alone would not decide the winner. Ultimately, Emiliano Martinez would get the two stops the Argentinians needed, and Argentina became World Cup champions for the third time in their history. But, more importantly many would argue, Lionel Messi had finally won his first World Cup. The man who had dreamed of this moment since a child finally got his wish, and had capped off an incredible career with the one trophy he had been missing. Messi would also come home with some individual hardware, taking home the Golden Ball for best player of the tournament. Kylian Mbappe’s hat trick earned him the Golden Boot as well to add to his already impressive resume at the young age of just 23. 

The soccer world came into this World Cup in Qatar full of concerns, questions, and controversy. However, as the beautiful game was played, and the fairy tales were written, the world was once again united by the games and this World Cup Final will surely go down as the greatest match ever not just in soccer, but maybe in all of sports.