Argentina 3-3 (4-2) France: Messi wins the battle of superstars

After respectively beating Croatia and Morocco in the semi-finals of the tournament, the fourth meeting of the nations in the World Cup was to be the finals of Qatar 2022 with La Albiceleste winning two of its previous three.

dominated the game from the very first minute as France looked fragile and unable to attack. Argentina's high pressure came fruitful as Angel Di Maria earned a penalty after cutting in 

's box from the wing. Lionel Messi netted the penalty before Di Maria completed his masterclass in the 36th minute scoring Argentina's second goal. Unable to threaten Argentina's goal, Didier Deschamps brought Dembele and Giroud out for Thuram and Muani late in the first half in hope of changing the game's process.

France failed to threaten Martinez's goal with Argentina being a lot more dangerous in counter-attacks. Kylian Mbappe netted a brace in two minutes to stun Argentina, completing France's comeback after scoring from the spot in the 80th minute as the two teams headed to extra time with a 2-2 result.

Messi scored his second goal in the 108th minute before Mbappe completed his hat-trick from the spot 10 minutes later, sending the game to the penalty shoot-out.

Argentina won 4-2 in the penalties as Messi finished his international career with the World Cup trophy.

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