The final of the World Cup in Qatar is one of the most memorable finals, in part because of the drama and many goals, but also because it was the final of a World Cup that truly defined FIFA’s commercial dominance over football; the tournament was awarded to a small nation with a lot of money, but with no football history or even participation in a World Cup, amid controversy about migrant workers and labour rights. According to some sources up to 6500 migrant workers may have died since the tournament was awarded to Qatar (although not directly involved in infrastructure building for the World Cup). At the same time too expensive ticket prices and no alcohol meant that the World Cup was full of controversy off the pitch.
But on the pitch it had been a spectacle; and a spectacle that FIFA made a lot of money off, as they formed a narrative that made everyone forget the abuses of migrant workers.
The masses were too entertained to care.
Argentina was led by the great Lionel Messi. He was already a legend at club level, but the biggest prize had eluded him and Argentina: in 2014 they had lost a close-fought final against Germany, and in 2018 had flopped completely by falling in the first round.
In 2021 Messi finally won his first title with Argentina with the Copa America in the final against Brazil, and the team had been strong during qualification under Manager Lionel Scaloni, who with limited experience when appointed in 2019, had forged a solid side that not only depended on Messi, but was able to exploit his qualities. So Argentina again entered the tournament as favourites.
It was not only because of Lionel Messi, but Argentina had an outstanding team. On goal, a position that had hurt Argentina for years, Argentina had found a solid if provocative goalkeeper in Aston Villa’s Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez. Defenders included the veteran from Benfica, Nicolas Otamendi, and the veteran from Lyon, Nicolas Tagliafico, as well as Sevilla’s Gonzalo Montiel and Marcus Acuña, Tottenham’s Cristian Romero, Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez and the young Nahuel Molina from Atletico Madrid. A solid midfield to support Messi included Atletico Madrid’s Rodrigo de Paul, Alexis McAllister from Brighton Hove & Albion, Leandro Paredes from Juventus, Benfica’s youngster Enzo Fernadez, Sevilla’s veteran Papu Gomez, and the fantastic Angel DiMaria, who was known for scoring in finals (he scored the winner in the 2021 Copa America final). Attackers were from the best teams in the world and included Roma’s Paolo Dybala, Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, Atletico Madrid’s Angel Correa, and the young Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez. Manager Scaloni was a people-person, and forged a strong team spirit, where players who got replaced did not complain, but were still seen as a part of the team; it was thus that Lautaro Martinez eventually got replaced by the young Julian Alvarez in attack, while both Nahuel Molina and Alexis McAllister, who had been largely unknown before the tournament, became starters.
All this said, Argentina fought hard to make it to the final, and in fact opened with a sensational 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia; it was a huge disappointment, so Argentina was extra motivated for the following match against Mexico. Dominating but unable to score, it had to be Lionel Messi who opened the scoring and Argentina winning 2-0, and in the last match winning 2-0 over Poland, it was enough to win the group.
In the last-16 Argentina faced a surprising Australian side who had made it to the last-16 by defeating Denmark. The Aussies also gave Argentina a difficult match, but the South Americans won 2-1 on goals by Messi and Alvarez.
The quarterfinal between Argentina and Netherlands was pure drama: 2-0 down, Netherlands managed to equalize to 2-2 at the end of the match, but Dibu Martinez saved Argentina in a nerve-wrecking penalty shootout.
In the semifinals Argentina faced a Croatian side who had defeated Brazil and humiliated Argentina 0-3 in 2018, but this time the Argentines hit back with their own 3-0 victory and made it to the final where they were to face the defending champions from 2018, France.
France undoubtedly had one of the best teams in the world managed by the veteran and experienced Dider Deschamps. On goal was Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris, who despite occasional mistakes was a solid goalkeeper, supported by a string of super defenders: Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez and Dayot Upamecano, Manchester United’s Raphael Varane, Barcelona’s Jules Kounde, and Arsenal’s young William Saliba. An extraordinary midifeld included the young Real Madrid player Aurelien Tchouameni, Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, Juventus Adrien Rabiot, and the Real Madrid youngster Eduardo Camavinga. As offensive midfielder and strike threat was one of the best in the world in PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, complemented by other superstars that included Bayern Munich’s Kinglsey Coman, Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani, Borussia Monchengladbach’s young Marcus Thuram (son of the legendary Lilliam Thuram) and three highly experienced veterans in Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, and AC Milan’s Olivier Giroud.
France qualified through a relatively easy group ahead of Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kazakhstan, and were in the first round drawn in another relatively easy group D with Denmark, Australia and Tunisia. Despite losing to Tunisia, victories against Denmark and Australia were sufficient to win the group.
They defeated Poland 3-1 in the last-16 and England 2-1 in the quarterfinals, before defeating the surprising Moroccans 2-0 in the semifinals to make their second final in a row and to defend their 2018 title.
France did not appear to have struggled as much to make it to the final as Argentina, who nevertheless entered as nervous favourites; the 2014 defeat to Germany lingered in the Argentine mind, but the team was in its strongest lineup, including Angel DiMaria, who had missed the 2014 final.
France was awful in the first half; perhaps the worst performance by a team in a World Cup final. It goes partly in credit to an Argentina side that pressed high and shot on goal from the start of the match, but the horrible first half, where France had no shots on goal, meant that Manager Deschamps already made two changes in the 41st minute, taking out an anonymous Ousmane Dembele and a hapless Olivier Giroud for Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram respectively.
In the meantime, Argentina seemed unstoppable in the first half. High pressure, close chances by Alvarez and Messi, as well as a Rodrigo de Paul and Angel Di Maria who were clearly enjoying the match. The first goal came thanks to Di Maria who easily dribbled past Jules Kounde into the French area, and Kounde could do nothing but pressure him for behind and causing him to fall. Messi was cool despite the enormous pressure and scored, deservedly for Argentina. Argentina’s second goal was one of the best goals of the tournament: coming from a counterattack, three perfect first touches by Messi and Alvarez, the ball arrived at McAllister at full speed towards the goal, who passed it to an onrushing Di Maria on the left. Di Maria elegantly lifted the ball over Lloris and 2-0 for Argentina, who until then were totally dominant. It was a splendid goal and totally deserved for Argentina.
As the second half started France's changes meant more organization, but it was still Argentina that dominated and had the ball. In fact, nothing appeared to threaten the Argentine lead, and Marcus Acuna came on for the splendid Angel DiMaria, who again had scored in a final for Argentina.
With 20 minutes left Didier Deschamps made two additional changes: Eduardo Camavinga came on for Theo Hernandez to give more energy in midfield, and Kingsley Coman came on for Antoine Griezmann to put more pressure on the Argentine midfield and defense.
With 9 minutes left France was given a glimmer of hope: Otamendi could not keep up with Kolo Muani’s speed and brought him down inside the Argentine penalty area. Kylian Mbappe was cool-headed and made it 2-1 on what was effectively France’s first shot on target during the second half.
After the goal, France started to play football for the first time during the match as Argentina was ready to keep suffering as they had done throughout the tournament.
And they suffered as the saddest tango song when Kylian Mbappe made it 2-2: an elegant pass by Marcus Thuram above the Argentine defense and Kylian Mbappe resolutely volleyed the ball into goal.
It was a dramatic end to the match as it went into extra time where France appeared on top as they had equalised a match that until the 80th minutes seemed to be under Argentina’s control.
As expected both teams were tired but full of fight in the extra time. Argentina had brought on Lautaro Martinez for Julian Alvarez ten minutes into extra time, and the striker brought renewed energy into the Argentine attack; he had some close misses before one of his shots was blocked by Hugo Lloris, but Messi managed to score on the rebound from close range.
Argentina was again ahead, but it was not to last. Another penalty was awarded for France in the 117th minute on a handball by Gonzalo Montiel, and again Kylian Mbappe scored, becoming only the second player in World Cup histroy to score three goals in a final, after Geoff Hurst in 1966.
3-3 with 3 minutes left, but the match was close at not going into penalty kicks when Kolo Muani got the chance of a lifetime to win the World Cup: a lose ball landed for him at the edge of the area, alone in front of the goalkeeper, but an extraordinary save by Dibu Martines kept Argentina alive for penalty kicks.
The two superstars, Messi and Mbappe opened by scoring, but it was then Martinez who took the stage. Openly using psychological tactics he first saved Kingsley Coman’s shot, and then made Aurelien Tchouameni shoot wide of goal.
The Sevilla defender Gonzalo Montiel was to score on the penalty that gave Argentina the World Cup title, and make an entire country celebrate.
In the social media hype of 2022 and after, some people have called this the greatest final of all time. I am sorry to say that it wasn’t, although it was certainly dramatic. But the French were simply too bad in the first half, and the reason it became so dramatic was because Argentina came so close to messing up a trophy that were basically in their hands. The South Americans were deserved champions, but they were not an overwhelmingly good team. It was certainly special for Lionel Messi, who could finally step out of the shadow of other great players, and sign up as a legend. Because you are not a legend until you win a World Cup.
Match Stats:
- Qatar, December 18th 2022 Lusail Stadium
- Attendance: 89,000
- Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Argentina-France 3-3 (aet)
Goals:
1-0 Lionel Messi (p) (23)
2-0 Angel DiMaria (36)
2-1 Kylian Mbappe (p) (80)
2-2 Kylian Mbappe (81)
3-2 Lionel Messi (108)
3-3 Kylian Mbappe (p) (118)
Penalty kicks: Argentina-France 4-2
0-1 Kylian Mbappe
1-1 Lionel Messi
Kingsley Coman missed for France
2-1 Paulo Dybala
Aurelien Tchouameni missed for France
3-1 Leandro Paredes
3-2 Kolo Muani
4-2 Gonzalo Montiel
Teams:
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Nicolas Otamendi, Cristian Romero,, Nahuel Molina (Gonzalo Montiel, 90), Nicolas Tagliafico (Paulo Dybala, 120); Alexis MacAllister (German Pezzella, 116), Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo DePaul (Leandro Paredes, 102); Julian Alvarez (Lautaro Martinez, 103), Lionel Messi, Angel DiMaria (Marcos Acuña, 64). Manager: Lionel Scaloni.
France: Hugo Lloris; Raphael Varane (Ibrahima Konate, 113), Dayot Upamecano, Joules Kounde (Axel Disasi, 112), Lucas Hernandez (Edouard Camavinga, 71); Adrien Rabiot (Youssouf Fafana, 96), Aurelien Tchouameni, Ousmane Dembele (Kolo Muani, 41), Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann (Kinglsey Coman, 71), Olivier Giroud (Marcus Thuram, 41). Manager: Didier Deschamps.
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