David Hytner was at the Lusail Stadium tonight. His report is in, and here it is. Congratulations to Argentina, commiserations to France, and thank you both so much for serving up perhaps the greatest final of all. Thanks to you as well, dear reader, for sticking with us on the MBM all the way through the tournament. See you all for the Carabao Cup next week. (Too clunky a gear change?)
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Messi disrobes … just the robe … and jumps around a bit more, better to show off his Argentina shirt. Then he hands the trophy to his team-mates as he jigs around with his kids again. At last, at long last: Argentina and Lionel Messi: Campeones del Mundo.
Lionel Messi, fully robed up, rubs his hands in anticipation of finally – finally – lifting the World Cup. The Emir of Qatar and Fifa president Gianni Infantino hand over the golden prize. Messi takes possession of the holy grail, ekes out the moment by bobbing lightly along the podium, in front of his team-mates … then hoists the World Cup high into the air! Fireworks! Dancing! Glee! Argentina are champions of the world!
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Argentina come up to get their gold medals in numerical order. That means it’s not a long wait for the man who converted the winning penalty, Gonzalo Montiel. Huge cheers for Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez and Angel Di Maria. Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez. Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United. Cristian Romero of Spurs. Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton. A medal around the neck of manager Lionel Scaloni … then his namesake Messi. The roof comes off as he hugs the Emir, and he’ll be lifting the World Cup in a few seconds …
Hugo Lloris leads his brave France team up to the podium. Every one of them look drained, disappointed, distraught. They’ll appreciate having taken part in an all-time classic … one day, one day. But for now, it’s silver medals and sympathetic handshakes all round. They’ve accepted defeat with good grace. No surprise there: it was a final competed in the best spirit. Les bleus line up for a group photo. Last man up, Kylian Mbappe, who looks utterly ruined. He contemplates taking his silver medal off, but doesn’t. Like I say, good grace. What a team. They came so close to retaining the trophy, something that hasn’t been done for 60 years. What a team.
All four award winners pose for a group photo. Three of them are signally happier than the other one. Congratulations to Lionel, Enzo, Emi and Kylian. Poor Kylian.
More awards. Then the golden glove award is given to Emi Martinez. He first uses it as a phallic symbol, then sucks on its thumb. It’s a way of celebrating, I guess. And next up, a grim Kylian Mbappe, getting his golden boot for top goalscorer. Shades of Messi picking up his player-of-the-tournament award after losing the 2014 final. Hats off to Mbappe for forcing a smile when posing for the photos. And finally the Golden Ball goes, just as it did in 2014, to Messi. Of course it does. He’s a damn sight happier this time. A huge smile. Then he walks past the World Cup Trophy and gives it a tender stroke and kiss. Aww! The crowd go wild. Imagine the noise we’ll hear when he finally gets to lift it.
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Right, here come the dignitaries. Fifa bauchle Gianni Infantino (you’re welcome, Gordon in Ayr) and the Emir of Qatar. Medals are hung around the neck of referee Szymon Marciniak and his team. They all had a fine game. Then the young player of the tournament award goes to Enzo Fernandez of Argentina. Not a bad month’s work for the 21-year-old Benfica midfielder.
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The lights dim in the stadium. Time for the trophy presentation. As we wait for all the celebrations, let’s again consider Lionel Messi, who has become the first player to score at every stage of a modern finals: the groups, the round of 16, the quarters, the semi, and the final. That’s not quite up there with Jairzinho, who scored in every single match of Brazil’s successful 1970 run (though he didn’t have a round of 16 game to play) but six out of seven ain’t bad: the only game he didn’t score in was the group win over Poland.
Messi is doing the family thing right now, a world of delight. Di Maria, who has pretty much been in tears on and off ever since scoring that sensational first-half goal, gets a hug from his loved ones too. An awful lot of pogoing going on.
… and the final standings in the race for the Golden Boot.
8: Kylian Mbappe (France)
7: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
4: Julian Alvarez (Argentina), Olivier Giroud (France)
That’s the biggest haul since Ronaldo also scored eight in 2002. You have to go back 52 years for a better personal goalscoring performance at a World Cup, Gerd Muller scoring ten at Mexico 1970. Poor Mbappe, head dropped, is heartbroken right now. France’s president Emmanuel Macron gives him an avuncular hug, gathering him back up to full height. He’ll look back on this tournament with pride … given time. A lovely tweet waiting for him when he gets back in the changing room, too.
Many congratulations to Mbappe, whatever happens. I've had a great run!
— Sir Geoff Hurst (@TheGeoffHurst) December 18, 2022
The updated World Cup roll of honour, then.
5: Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
4: Italy (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), Germany (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
3: Argentina (1978, 1986, 2022)
2: Uruguay (1930, 1950), France (1998, 2018)
1: England (1966), Spain (2010)
Mbappe sits on the bench with his number 10 shirt pulled up over his head. A few tears no doubt. Who could blame him? A hat-trick in the final! Finally, someone makes it onto the list alongside Sir Geoff Hurst. But unlike England’s 1966 hero, there’s no joy for him today. At least he’s already got a winner’s medal in his cabinet, not that he’ll be thinking about that right now. A lot of pensive French stars staring into the middle distance right now.
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Messi is wandering around in disbelief. A huge stoned smile across his face. High on life. No wonder. He’s at the top of the world. But spare a thought for poor Kylian Mbappe, who has just scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, only to find himself on the losing side. He looks bereft. When the pain subsides … and it will take a while … he’ll look with satisfaction upon his stellar contribution to the greatest World Cup final of all time. Because it was, wasn’t it? What a story! What performances by Messi and Mbappe! What a final.
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Argentina pile on each other in a mixture of glee and, well, tearful glee. Argentina held their nerve in the penalty shoot-out – with a little help from Emi Martinez’s mind games – and they’ve won their third World Cup! Lionel Messi has his winners medal at last, and the weight of the world is visibly lifted off his shoulders! He smiles, sparkling like a young boy, just a happy lad. What a performance! What a career! What a final.
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Argentina win the 2022 World Cup!!!
PENALTIES: France 2-4 Argentina. Montiel rolls confidently into the bottom left, and Argentina are kings of the world!
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Up comes Gonzalo Montiel. He can win the World Cup for Argentina…
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PENALTIES: France 2-3 Argentina. Martinez is booked for trying it on again. And this time his throw-away ruse doesn’t work, Kolo Muani roofing one down the middle.
PENALTIES: France 1-3 Argentina. Paredes whistles his kick into the bottom left, and Argentina are so close now! Lloris went the right way and may wonder if he should have done better.
PENALTIES: France 1-2 Argentina. Martinez flings the ball away, forcing Tchouameni to go fetch. More time to think … and he drags a dismal effort wide left. Martinez had gone the right way, too!
PENALTIES: France 1-2 Argentina. Dybala was brought on for this. He fires his straight down the middle, and it’s advantage Argentina. As cool as Messi.
PENALTIES: France 1-1 Argentina. Coman goes bottom left … but it’s not good and Martinez gets down to make the easy save. The stadium erupts!
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PENALTIES: France 1-1 Argentina. Messi rolls slowly down the middle. Just a little bit to the left. Not much, but enough to evade the reach of Lloris. What nerves!
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PENALTIES: France 1-0 Argentina. Mbappe lashes towards the top left. Not quite, and Martinez gets fingers to it, but can’t stop it going in.
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That was an astonishing period of extra time. How was it only 3-3?!! But here we are. It’s an awful shame that either Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappe has to lose. It’s not on, really. But it has to happen. The captains Messi and Lloris both win something at the coin toss. The penalties will be taken at the end packed out with Argentina fans. France get to take their kicks first. Here we go, then!
EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Argentina 3-3 France
Mbappe nearly sets the seal on a classic by scoring his fourth, twisting the blood of Romero and Paredes as he dribbles in from the left. Dybala batters clear, just in time, and we’re going to penalty kicks!
ET 30 min +3: Huge chances to win it at either end! Kolo Muani is one on one with Martinez, who spreads and makes the save of his life! Then Messi skitters down the right and stands one up for Lautaro Martinez in the middle. He heads wide right from ten yards!
ET 30 min +2: Messi and Lautaro Martinez very nearly replicate the Maradona-Burrachaga winning combination of 1986 … but as Martinez chases down the middle and prepares to shoot, Konate steps up and the offside flag springs up. Lloris kicks away in any case.
ET 30 min +1: Both teams make a change with penalty kicks in mind. France replace Kounde with Disasi, while Argentina send on Dybala for Tagliafico.
ET 30 min: Nope. France deal with the corner easily enough … then go up the other end and nearly snatch it at the death! Mbappe crosses from the left. Kolo Muani rises and aims a header towards the top right. Martinez is scrambling, unlikely to get there if it’s on target. But it bounces inches wide of the top corner!
ET 29 min: … so Mbappe becomes only the second player in history to score a hat-trick in the final, after Geoff Hurst in 1966. But there’s no time to think about that, because Acuna wins a corner down the left for Argentina. They couldn’t, could they?
GOAL! Argentina 3-3 France (Mbappe 118 pen)
There was some confusion when that penalty was awarded. Was it a free kick? Nope! A penalty. No confusion about the kick itself, though. Mbappe sends Martinez the wrong way and lashes into the left-hand side of the net!
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Penalty for France!
ET 26 min: The corner’s half cleared. Mbappe, to the left of the D, curls for the top right. Montiel jumps and blocks with his forearm. The referee points to the spot!
ET 25 min: Konate, of all people, wins a corner down the right wing. Before it can be taken, Pezzella comes on for Mac Allister.
ET 24 min: Camavinga drives down the inside-left channel at Paredes, who, perhaps imagining the Dutch dugout in front of him, ploughs straight through his man at full speed. Cynical as you like, and it nearly kicks off. Just a yellow.
ET 23 min: Argentina waste some time near the corner flag.
ET 22 min: Martinez, who has been exceptional since coming on, tries to spin Varane down the left wing. He doesn’t quite get past his man, but does enough to force a throw near the corner flag. Varane collapses. Spent. Can’t continue. On comes Konate in his stead.
ET 20 min: Martinez was only just onside. Messi only just bundled over the line. VAR checks. But all’s good! Argentina retake the lead, and the stadium takes off into space. What a noise! Messi conducts the crowd as he celebrates. They don’t need any encouragement!
GOAL! Argentina 3-2 France (Messi 109)
Argentina triangulate down the inside-right channel. Messi slips Martinez into the box down the inside-right channel. Martinez creams a pearler goalwards from a tight angle. Lloris parries, but the rebound falls to Messi, who bundles over the line!
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ET 17 min: A long pass down the Argentina right. Lloris, under pressure from the scampering Martinez, comes out of his box to clear for a throw. Then Messi shoots from distance, towards the bottom right, only for Lloris to palm away from the corner.
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Argentina get the second half of extra time underway. They were the better side in extra time in the quarters against the Netherlands, having shipped a two-goal lead late in that game too. They hadn’t repeated the trick this time … but the introduction of Lautaro Martinez has given them a timely boost. Shades of Viola in the 1994 final?
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Argentina 2-2 France
Lautaro Martinez wants the corner Argentina deserve, but there’s not even time to take the goal kick France don’t.
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ET 15 min +1: Upamecano denies Martinez again! Martinez races after a long pass down the inside-left channel. He’s clear! But as he shoots, Upamecano’s studs deflect the ball wide left of goal.
ET 15 min: Argentina spring into life! Messi one-twos with Lautaro Martinez on the edge of the box. Martinez shoots, only for Upamecano to slide in from nowhere to block. The rebound falls to Montiel, who sends a rising screamer towards the top left. Varane eyebrows bravely out for a corner, from which nothing comes.
ET 14 min: Acuna bustles down the left and reaches the edge of the France box, only to hysterically slice his cross into the stand behind the goal.
ET 13 min: A double change for Argentina. De Paul and Alvarez make way for Paredes and Lautaro Martinez. What a story it would be if Lautaro Martinez, after all his struggles in this tournament, grabbed the winner the final.
ET 11 min: France pin Argentina back. A free kick, then a corner, from the left flank. Eventually the offside flag releases the pressure on Argentina.
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ET 9 min: Mbappe goes off on a dribble down the left wing. At one point he’s got four men around him, yet still keeps going. Inevitably the numbers prevail, but that’s a determined run, and France look much more positive right now. The way the game’s gone, there’s no wonder in that.
ET 7 min: Romero stands on Mbappe’s foot. That’s not a great challenge but the referee is lenient, perhaps because the flag had already gone up for offside.
ET 6 min: Fofana comes on for Rabiot. Meanwhile here’s Simon McMahon with the “highlight of the tournament on ITV as Ally McCoist asks, with a straight face: ‘Has anyone ever scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final?’”
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ET 5 min: Acuna leads with his elbow into an aerial challenge. Just a garden-variety free kick, but Acuna, already on a booking, wants to watch himself here.
ET 3 min: Messi, 35, runs hard at Camavinga but can’t get past the 20-year-old. He then tries to rugby tackle the France midfielder, to stop a counter attack, but doesn’t get booked. “I bet Ronaldo has turned the game back on,” quips Victoria Pearson.
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ET 2 min: Argentina begin the first period of extra time on the front foot. Acuna curls in from the left. Varane clears under pressure from Mac Allister. “Scaloni outthought Deschamps with the original lineups, but Deschamps’ rearranging of the French team outfoxed the Argentine,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Whatever happens now, Didier has earned his spot in World Cup folklore.”
France get the first half of extra time underway. Argentina have made a change, replacing their right-back Molina with Montiel.
Lionel Scaloni gathers his shell-shocked troops and presumably gives them the Alf Ramsey you’ve-won-it-once-lads spiel. Messi is his usual inscrutable self. Mbappe meanwhile receives a massage. He’s deserved it. Only one team has ever recovered from a two-goal deficit in a World Cup final: West Germany against in 1954, the Miracle of Bern.
FULL TIME: Argentina 2-2 France
Messi drops deep and launches a long pass down the left wing. The Maradona-to-Burruchaga dynamic doesn’t quite come off, and we’re going to extra time!
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90 min +8: France clear the resulting corner easily enough, then Acuna is booked for cynically scything Coman as he plans to launch a counter.
90 min +7: … so having said that, they launch what has now become a rare attack. Messi cuts in from the right and his eyes light up. He puts his laces through a riser intended for the top left. It’s on target. Lloris gets a strong hand to tip over. What a story that would have been!
90 min +5: The tension is palpable. Giroud, on the bench, is booked for haranguing the referee. Then Kolo Muaini drives at the Argentinian back line. Argentina swarm him and just about manage to scramble clear. This is wild! Argentina have completely fallen to bits.
90 min +4: The corner’s half cleared. Coman is fouled near the left corner flag. The referee waves play on. Camavinga tees up Rabiot, who slams towards the bottom left. Emi Martinez fumbles, but gathers the loose ball under pressure from the lurking Kolo Muani.
90 min +3: A free kick for France out on the left. Argentina look nervous. They’re fortunate that Mbappe’s delivery is no good. They clear. But France come straight back at them, Mbappe looking to become only the second scorer of a World Cup final hat-trick. He tears towards the France box and sends a rising heatseeker goalwards. It’s deflected over the bar.
90 min +2: Acuna attempts to release Tagliafico into the France box down the left. Too much on the pass. Goal kick. On the bench, Di Maria stares at a spot roughly 1,000 yards in the distance. “Might Scaloni’s decision to take off Di Maria turn out like Ramsey’s subbing off Bobby Charlton in 1970 in the quarter final?” wonders David Wall.
90 min +1: France certainly look the more likely to find a winner in added time. But there’s no point trying to second guess this match.
90 min: There will be eight added minutes.
89 min: A couple of players down, requiring treatment. So they’re showing replays of the Mbappe equaliser. Mbappe really caught the shot – it was an exceptional volley – but Emi Martinez got a good hand to it. It’s not an error, but how close did he come to stopping both Mbappe’s goals? The thin line between success and failure at the very pinnacle of sport.
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87 min: Argentinian hearts in mouths as Thuram goes over Fernandez’s leg in their box. Screams for a penalty, but in fact it’s a yellow card for Thuram, who instigated the contact by hanging out a leg and dived.
86 min: Mbappe will get all the headlines, but France’s first-half subs Kolo Muani and Thuram have made a huge impression on this game. What a call by Deschamps that was, however this ends.
84 min: The momentum has completely shifted Mbappe finds space down the left and curls towards Kolo Muani at the far post. Kolo Muani can’t get his head onto the ball, six yards out, but there wasn’t much in it.
83 min: This is simply astonishing! Three minutes ago, France looked down and out! But suddenly they found something from somewhere – assisted by Otamendi’s hesitance – and this is 1986 all over again. Can Argentina recover like they did back then?
GOAL! Argentina 2-2 France (Mbappe 81)
Coman robs Messi in the midfield, out on the right. The ball’s shuttled across the pitch to Mbappe. He one-twos with Thuram down the inside-left channel. He meets the dropping return first time, and sweeps into the bottom right! What drama here!
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81 min: That really came out of nowhere … and now French tails are up. And would you believe this …
GOAL! Argentina 2-1 France (Mbappe 80 pen)
Mbappe sends the penalty into the bottom left. It’s not perfect, and Emi Martinez gets fingers to it, but the keeper can’t stop it and this is back on!
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Penalty for France!
79 min: Hello! Hello! Kolo Muani bustles his way past Otamendi down the inside-left channel and enters the box. Otamendi tries to battle his way back, but can’t get goalside and brings his man down. All of a sudden, a chink of light for France! Mbappe to take.
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77 min: De Paul has been kicked from pillar to post this afternoon, and he takes another for the team. Camavinga skittles him out on the right, and there’s another opportunity to eat up some clock. Argentina have earned it.
76 min: Tonight’s attendance: a full house of 88,966. The highest attendance at a final since Roberto Baggio launched that penalty into the Pasadena sky in 1994.
74 min: Not today, though. Tchouameni barges into Romero, and the Argentinian takes the opportunity to stay down, catch his breath, and let the clock tick on.
73 min: As mentioned earlier, Argentina have shipped a two-goal lead in a World Cup final before. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge sparked a (brief) West German comeback after 74 minutes in 1986. Just saying.
72 min: Messi has been quiet in this second half, but suddenly pops up on the left-hand edge of the French box, dribbles infield, then tees up Fernandez, whose curler towards the top right is weak and easily gathered by Lloris.
71 min: Another double change for France, as Griezmann and Hernandez make way for Coman and Camavinga.
70 min: Mbappe dribbles in from the left and shoots over the bar. France are asking a couple of questions now.
68 min: The resulting corner is whipped in from the left. Kolo Muani meets it six yards out at the near post, but shoulders it wide. That was a decent chance. For all Argentina’s dominance, one goal would change everything.
67 min: Hernandez curls in low from the left. Otamendi, under pressure from the lurking Thuram, shanks a panicked clearance over the bar. For the first time this evening, France are suddenly carrying a little threat.
66 min: Griezmann finds a second out on the left wing and fizzes a low cross through the Argentina six-yard box. There’s nobody in bleu to poke home.
64 min: That was a well-timed challenge by Upamecano. Any more force, and it could have been another penalty. Just enough pressure to put Mac Allister off. Meanwhile Di Maria, having run himself into the ground, is replaced by Acuna. What a game he’s had!
63 min: Mac Allister storms down the middle, chasing a Messi pass, and plays a long-distance one-two with Alvarez. Mac Allister nearly gets on the end of the return, by the penalty spot, but Upamecano leans gently on him to put him off, and Lloris hacks clear.
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62 min: France still haven’t had an attempt on goal. Argentina have had nine, with five on target.
60 min: Di Maria causes all manner of bother down the left. He crosses low. Messi, 12 yards out and level with the right-hand post, takes a touch and prepares to shoot. This could be it! Rabiot slides across to get a toe on the ball. Messi is still able to shoot, but Rabiot’s intervention causes him to poke wide right. That’s kept France in the game.
59 min: Alvarez works his way down the inside-left channel and has a dig from a tight angle. It’s probably going wide, but Lloris gets down well to smother, just in case.
58 min: Mbappe petulantly clips De Paul on the ankle. Just a free kick, but France are in danger of losing the collective head here.
57 min: Kounde romps down the right with purpose. He’s forced to turn tail, but lays off to Kolo Muani, who takes his turn to run towards the Argentina box. He’s unceremoniously – but legally – stopped by Tagliafico on the edge of the box. Tagliafico wasn’t moving anywhere. What a challenge! Not an inch given.
56 min: Thankfully, although De Paul felt that, he’s able to continue.
55 min: Rabiot is booked for an awful scissor tackle on De Paul’s standing leg. That could have been really nasty, and the France midfielder is lucky not to have been sent packing. That was a potential leg-breaker.
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54 min: Now it’s Argentina’s turn to win a corner down the right. They take their sweet time over it. Griezmann clears at the near post. France counter. A long ball. Emi Martinez comes out of his box to blooter clear, only to slice comedically. He’s fortunate the ball doesn’t drop to a France player. That could have been extremely embarrassing.
52 min: Griezmann loops the corner straight down Emi Martinez’s throat. A confident claim nevertheless. The aforementioned Giroud, incidentally, was beyond angry upon being hooked in the first half. A lot of water-bottle-bothering antics and effing and jeffing in the expressive Gallic style.
51 min: Kolo Muani works hard to get the ball off Otamendi, and sends Mbappe into space down the right. He wins a corner. Where’s Giroud? Oh.
49 min: Di Maria wants that man-of-the-match award all right, and nearly registers another assist with a raking cross from the left. De Paul comes in from the opposite side and batters a first-time shot straight at Lloris. He caught that well. A wee bit either to the left or right, and Lloris would have had some work to do.
47 min: … so that was very nearly a horror start to the second half for France. Another goal and that’s surely it. They look bereft of energy. If they don’t find something, expect plenty of chat about the bug that reportedly tore its way through the squad this week.
46 min: Messi runs at a worryingly tatty looking French back line. He slips a ball down the left channel for Alvarez, who cuts inside and considers shooting from distance. Instead he feeds Fernandez on the right. A cross is claimed by Lloris, with Mac Allister not too far away from connecting.
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Argentina get the second half underway. No further changes. Didier Deschamps has been here before, in a way: his team are playing like Brazil did when his France team went in 2-0 up at the break en route to glory in 1998. Argentina surely won’t be taking anything for granted, though: they were two up and coasting in 1986, only for West Germany to hit them with a quick double whammy to level things up. They still won that final, of course, but you can bet your last shiny bronze centime they wouldn’t fancy going through the wringer like that again today.
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HALF TIME: Argentina 2-0 France
No more than Argentina deserve. They’re 45 minutes plus stoppages away from their third World Cup. Lionel Messi is 45 minutes plus stoppages away from completing football.
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45 min +8: Griezmann swings the free kick in from a deep position on the right. He can’t find Varane at the far stick. Goal kick, and at long last from a French perspective, that’ll be the end of the first half.
45 min +7: Fernandez is booked for a cynical clatter into an in-flight Kolo Muani.
45 min +5: Griezmann, so influential during France’s run to the final, has seen very little of the ball. He’s beaten to it easily in the midfield by Fernandez, who blooters upfield. The first half in microcosm: Argentina have been wonderfully intense; France utterly flaccid.
45 min +4: France have seen more of the ball since the double change. Argentina sitting back, perhaps, so they can work out what’s what.
45 min +2: Thuram busies himself down the left and troubles the Argentinian back line. His promising work is undone when he lays off to Hernandez, who brushes De Paul with his studs. Free kick, and the rare bit of French pressure is released.
45 min: There will be seven added first-half minutes.
43 min: Say what you like about Deschamps, that’s a brave call in a World Cup final all right. At least he won’t leave Qatar wondering. Mbappe is now leading the line for France.
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41 min: Well, what about this? Didier Deschamps isn’t waiting for half-time to change things. Off come Dembele, who has been off it today from the start, and Giroud, who has reportedly been struggling with a knee problem. On in their place: Thuram and Kolo Muani.
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40 min: France can hardly get a touch. They could do with hearing the half-time whistle. “Messi is going to win the Golden Boot on pens, just as Megan Rapinoe did in 2019,” writes Tracy Mohr. “She has better hair though.”
38 min: Messi is this close to tearing into acres of space down the right. France are extremely fortunate that Upamecano reads the danger, comes across, and stands firm to ease his man off the ball.
37 min: This scoreline doesn’t flatter Argentina at all. It kind of flatters France if anything. The French simply haven’t turned up! Argentina are playing like they feel the World Cup is their destiny. Di Maria is already in tears.
GOAL! Argentina 2-0 France (Di Maria 36)
Talk about justifying your selection! Mac Allister, in his own half, finds Messi to the right of the centre circle. Messi plays a ball around the corner and down the right for Alavez, who instantly releases Mac Allister along the wing. France are all over the shop in the middle. Mac Allister swings a low pass across to Di Maria, coming in from the other flank. He strides into the box and, from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, whistles a shot across Lloris and into the bottom right! What a sensational team goal!
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35 min: Mbappe nearly gets the better of Molina down the left but can’t win a footrace into the box.
34 min: France have yet to register an attempt at goal. Argentina are in charge.
32 min: Mac Allister takes a whack from great distance that goes out for a throw. Full marks for ambition.
31 min: Argentina look in total control right now. France are strangely shapeless.
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29 min: Messi dribbles down the right at great speed. Thoughts of what Messi did to Josko Gvardiol of Croatia must be going through Hernandez’s mind, but the defender stands firm, limiting the damage to a corner. The set piece is fired towards the near post, where Giroud does some staunch defensive work to clear.
27 min: Griezmann curls the ball into the mixer. It’s half cleared. Hernandez and Fernandez compete for the ball in mid-air and both go down in a crumpled heap. Free kick to Argentina – Hernandez was a little bit late, though the collision seemed accidental – and thankfully both players are back up and running again soon enough.
26 min: France look to bounce back quickly. Giroud works his way down the inside-right channel and is checked by Romero. A free kick just to the right of goal, 30 yards out. Griezmann stands over it.
25 min: There was plenty of wild celebration in the stands when Messi arrogantly – in a good way – stroked that penalty home. Fair to say Argentina are enjoying the lion’s share of support in the stadium.
24 min: The penalty may have been a little bit soft, but the lead is no more than Argentina deserve.
GOAL! Argentina 1-0 France (Messi 23 pen)
Messi strolls up to the spot. He gives Lloris the eyes. Lloris blinks first. Messi rolls the ball into the bottom right, having sent the keeper the other way. The stadium erupts!
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22 min: VAR checks, but there’s no clear an obvious error. Messi to step up.
Penalty for Argentina!
21 min: The ball pinballs around the edge of the France box. Alvarez pings it cleverly towards Di Maria on the left. Di Maria dribbles his way past Dembele and enters the box. He goes down. He was looking for it, but there’s a little bit of contact from Dembele, who had put his arm on his opponent from behind. The referee points to the spot. Penalty!
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19 min: Griezmann whips the free kick to the far post. Giroud powers a header over the bar from six yards, but only after clambering over Di Maria to get to the ball. Free kick.
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18 min: Hernandez drops a shoulder to make good down the left. He’s heading for the byline when he’s crudely clattered by De Paul. A free kick here just to the side of the Argentina box. “Probably a wise move by Lloris to ditch his Dutch-looking orange kit for a yellow one,” writes Peter Oh. “No need to unnecessarily rile up the already amped-up opposition.”
17 min: Messi slips De Paul into space down the right. De Paul cuts back for Messi, who fresh-airs his attempt at a first-time shot. Whether that’s better or worse than the manner in which Di Maria then shins wildly over the bar is a moot point.
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16 min: Argentina have enjoyed 48 percent possession so far. France are on 39, while the ever-mysterious IN Contest has snaffled 13.
14 min: Argentina counter. Messi dribbles purposefully towards the France box and slides a diagonal pass down the left to release Di Maria into the box. But Di Maria is miles offside. Argentina will be far the happier at the minute.
13 min: A first touch for Mbappe, who probes down the left, then suddenly instigates a one-two with Rabiot. The return ball down the channel is too heavy and easy for Emi Martinez to gather.
12 min: Di Maria has been a complete handful since the get-go. Another ball in from the left finds Messi, but the little genius doesn’t have enough space in which to work a shooting opportunity. France close ranks.
11 min: A worrying couple of minutes for France as Lloris is checked over. He’s good to continue, but not very happy with the challenge by his Tottenham teammate. Not sure Romero could do much about it – he had been shoved from behind by Upamecano – but Lloris gives the referee the what-for anyway.
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9 min: The corner leads to a tense game of head tennis in the French box. Rabiot half clears. Another aerial battle. Upamecano barges into Romero, who dominoes his way into the leaping Lloris. The France keeper and captain cops an elbow in the ribs from Romero. Down he goes, and on comes the trainer.
8 min: Messi sets Argentina on the attack with a clever pass from the centre circle to release Mac Allister down the left. He feeds Di Maria, who cuts back for De Paul. A shot from the edge of the D is deflected wide right. Had that gone on target, Lloris was rooted to the spot and beaten.
7 min: France steady themselves with some patient possession in the middle of the park.
5 min: A cheeky back-heel by Alvarez down the inside-left channel. He’s teed up Mac Allister, who aims a powerful arrow straight at Lloris from 25 yards. Easy for the keeper. This is a bright start by Argentina; not so positive from France. Early days of course.
4 min: Upamecano leaps all over the back of Messi to win a header and now it’s 1-1 in lectures from the referee.
3 min: Di Maria digs out a cross from an unpromising position on the left. De Paul and Messi combine to the right of the D. The ball’s scooped through to Alvarez, who attempts to poke into the bottom left while on the turn. An easy claim for Lloris, and Alvarez was offside anyway. But that was cute play from Argentina.
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2 min: The first lecture of the match as De Paul needlessly shoves Rabiot in the back. The referee’s not happy, and tells him in no uncertain terms to rein it in.
France get the 2022 World Cup final underway. Griezmann back to Tchouameni, who launches long. Throw for Argentina. The only way is up.
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Anthem passion-o-meter™. Lionel’s goes up to 11. He gives it plenty. Full pipes. Kylian, singing along with a cheeky smile, just about managed to stop himself bursting out with laughter.
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The teams are out! Argentina in their albiceleste, France their bleu. It’s all too beautiful on this lazy Sunday afternoon. There’s a wild anticipatory atmosphere at the Lusail Iconic Stadium; it’s the World Cup final all right! Once the anthems and all other pre-match folderol are complete, edition number 22 will be underway. It really is on!
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Pre-match postbag II. “There’s a whole card-deck of reasons why we could all live with Messi being on the losing side; I guess the most poignant is that then he would be remembered, as was Don Bradman, as having achieved all but the very final touch to his sport’s greatest career. In a sense, that’s one step more memorable than perfection itself. I admit that he might not be quite of the same mind” – Charles Antaki
“The philosopher Isaiah Berlin once wrote that great authors can be categorized as either hedgehogs, who have one big idea and fit everything to it, or foxes, who distrust big ideas and work from experience. In football the image of the great manager is the hedgehog type, Guardiola, Lobanovskyi, Michels and so on. Deschamps is not like that. Each tournament, his France play in a different style. Like Ancelotti, Ferguson and Happel, Didier is a fox.” – Kári Tulinius
“As exciting as this game will be, I saw Musk and Beckham arrive at stadium. That sums it up, money is the number one driving force behind these competitions” – Jeff Sachs
The final edition of the popular PENNANT WATCH. Argentina win it hands down. Just look at this beauty (not pictured).
As for the French one … thankfully, so this isn’t a total fiasco, there is a photo of their finale pennant. And yes, it’s all right, you can never go wrong with the tricolore, though there’s a sense of the FA’s it’ll-do abomination about the whole thing. Will it do? Juste à propos de.
Pre-match postbag. “For all the talk about Messi and Mbappe, there’s also been (well-deserved) focus on Griezmann and the different role he’s played here from previous tournaments and at club level. But what has surprised me about that focus is people’s surprise that he is so defensively aware. This is a guy who has spent half his career with Atletico Madrid, being coached by Diego Simeone. It would have been almost impossible for him not to have learnt about defensive positioning in particular, even stood at the other end of the pitch during training sessions. Kieran Trippier said how much he learnt about defending while at Atletico and he was only there for 18 months. Griezmann could probably teach Deschamps a thing or two about that role, rather than the other way round, given how much time he’s been learning from Simeone” - David Wall
“Although I will only be ‘watching’ by means of your perceptive eyes, I am hoping it will be a good match, for everyone’s sake, but most of all that Argentina win. At least then we get the ‘was Messi better than Maradona’ arguments out of the way: they will be equals” – Jeremy Boyce
“Thanks for introducing the world to the word ‘nyaff’, the perfect noun for Putin. Could you please now describe Infantino as a ‘bauchle’?” - Gordon in Ayr
… and to complete a tuneful triptych, here’s the latest from our man on the spot.
Live is Life being played at the Lusail Stadium... remind you of anyone?
— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) December 18, 2022
While we’re on the subject of music, here are the national anthems that’ll stir the soul before kick-off. As Vanesa Valenti of La Nacion wrote in our pre-tournament guide to Argentina …
The Himno Nacional Argentino was written by the clearly multi-talented politician Vicente López y Planes and the music composed by Blas Parera and approved by the general constituent assembly in 1813. Initially it included a strong anti-Spanish sentiment, which was taken out in 1924. It starts “Hear, mortals, the sacred cry: ‘Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!’ Hear the sound of broken chains. See noble equality enthroned.” But because of the anthem’s length often at sporting events only the instrumental intro is played.
… and as Adam White and Eric Devin write for Get French Football News wrote in our pre-tournament guide to France …
An early (the earliest?) example of the “European march” style of anthems, La Marseillaise is arguably the world’s most recognisable and stirring. Written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg, its lyrics were meant to encourage soldiers to defend France against foreign incursions. It gained its popular name when it was adopted by soldiers who marched from Marseille to Paris to aid in the capital’s defence, and became the anthem in 1795. While it was later banned under Napoleon, it was reinstalled permanently in the late 19th century.
The closing ceremony has taken place. A celebratory “mash-up of songs from the World Cup Qatar 2022 Official Soundtrack” performed by Aisha, Ozuna, Gims, Nora Fatehi, Balqees, Rahma Riad and Manal. Tracks included Hayya Hayya (Better Together), Arhbo, Sepp’s Gonna Sexx Ya Up, Gianni’s Gotta Grind and Light the Sky.
Today’s referee, Szymon Marciniak, will become the first Pole to take charge of a World Cup final. The 41-year-old has already officiated matches involving Argentina and France during this World Cup. In the groups, he took charge of France 2-1 Denmark, booking Jules Koundé for standing on Victor Nelsson’s ankle, while in the round of 16 he whistled his way through Argentina 2-1 Australia without dishing out a single card.
Marciniak has quite the back story, as Robert Holmes explains: “I’ll be watching today’s game in Dublin with my good friend from Poland, Karolina. She’s not just a football nut, she also into referees (no idea) and is particularly excited for today’s game due to the man in the middle, Szymon Marciniak, hailing from her native land.
“She’s been telling me his origin story: as an undisciplined amateur player, he picked up a red card and gave the ref some backchat. The ref in question duly gave him the old ‘if you think you’re so clever why don’t you become a ref and show us how it’s done’ line. Challenge accepted, this he duly did and today he’s reffing the biggest match of them all. I can tell you, this Pole sitting beside me here is bursting with pride.”
Lionel Messi makes his 26th appearance for Argentina at the World Cup finals, breaking the all-time men’s record in doing so. There’s only one change to their starting XI from the semi-final against Croatia. Angel Di Maria – who hadn’t started since the group win over Poland, and played only eight minutes in the quarter-final victory over the Netherlands – takes the place of Leandro Paredes as Lionel Scaloni moves to a 4-3-3.
France coach Didier Deschamps goes back to the 4-2-3-1 starting XI named for the quarter-final victory over England. Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot both return having recovered from a virus, meaning Ibrahima Konaté and Youssouf Fofana step down. Hugo Lloris becomes the first goalkeeper to make 20 appearances at the finals.
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The teams
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico, Di Maria, De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister, Messi, Alvarez.
Subs: Armani, Foyth, Montiel, Paredes, Pezzella, Acuna, Rulli, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Gomez, Rodriguez, Dybala, Lisandro Martinez, Lautaro Martinez.
France: Lloris, Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud.
Subs: Pavard, Disasi, Guendouzi, Muani, Fofana, Veretout, Mandanda, Saliba, Coman, Areola, Konate, Camavinga, Thuram.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland).
The golden boot. Four players in this match are in with a shout of ending the tournament as the leading scorer. If two or more players finish with the same number of goals, assists will decide the winner. If that doesn’t produce a result, the player with the fewest minutes played will bag the prize.
5 goals
Lionel Messi (Argentina): three assists, 570 minutes played
Kylian Mbappe (France): two assists, 477 minutes played
4 goals
Julian Alvarez (Argentina): no assists, 364 minutes played
Olivier Giroud (France): no assists, 383 minutes played
Only four players have scored in more than one World Cup final: Vavá (1958 and 1962), Pelé (1958 and 1970), Paul Breitner (1974 and 1982) and Zinedine Zidane (1998 and 2006). Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé, both on the scoresheet in 2018. have a chance to add their name to that exclusive list tonight.
The Fifa World Cup roll of honour. Should Argentina win, they’ll become the first country from outside Europe to lift the trophy since Brazil, 20 years ago in Japan. Should France prevail, they’ll be the first side to retain the trophy since Brazil, 60 years ago in Chile. Either way, someone will be winning their third World Cup, which will fill the currently vacant 3 slot on this list, therefore making it more structurally pleasing to the eye.
5: Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
4: Italy (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), Germany (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
2: Uruguay (1930, 1950), Argentina (1978, 1986), France (1998, 2018)
1: England (1966), Spain (2010)
The head-to-head between the countries reads Argentina six wins, France three, and three draws. Eight of those games were friendlies, however, while another was a goalless draw at a 1972 tournament designed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Brazilian Declaration of Independence. Let’s not go down any of those rococo rabbit holes, and instead concentrate on the three showdowns that really matter: the only previous times Argentina and France have met at the World Cup.
1930: Argentina 1-0 France
The French had just beaten Mexico 4-1 in a match that kicked off concurrently with USA-Belgium in another group; those two games were the first-ever World Cup matches. Two days on, they faced a fresher Argentina, and as if being knackered wasn’t enough, were effectively down to ten men after two minutes when Luisito Monti crocked Lucien Laurent (who clearly had used up all his luck when scoring the first-ever World Cup goal against Mexico). Monti went on to score the game’s only goal from a direct free kick nine minutes from time. Argentina went on to lose in the final.
1978: Argentina 2-1 France
A pivotal game in a group also containing Italy and Hungary. Marius Trésor was in the process of tackling Leopoldo Luque while falling over when the ball hit his arm from close range. Daniel Passarella dispatched the controversially awarded penalty on the stroke of half time. Michel Platini equalised on the hour, following home after Bernard Lacombe’s delicate chip over keeper Ubaldo Fillol came back off the bar. The decider came on 73 minutes when Luque crashed home from the edge of the box. France were on their way back home, Argentina en route to the title.
2018: France 4-3 Argentina
It was Kylian Mbappé’s time. Had Lionel Messi’s passed?
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Preamble
Welcome to the Guardian’s minute-by-minute coverage of the 64th and final match of the 22nd Fifa World Cup: Argentina versus France. One of these great footballing nations will tonight win the biggest prize of all for the third time in their illustrious history. It’ll be Argentina’s sixth appearance in the final; France will compete in their fourth. Where shall we begin, then? There’s only one place …
1930: Uruguay 4-2 Argentina
… and it’s the first-ever World Cup final at the Centenario in Montevideo! Argentina led Uruguay 2-1 at half time through winger Carlos Peucelle and pencil-moustached striker Guillermo Stábile, but the hosts came back at them in the second half. Héctor Castro, who lost half an arm to a chainsaw while a teenager, crowned a 4-2 win for Uruguay. Stábile would have to make do with being the tournament’s leading scorer. Argentinian midfielder Juan Evaristo played this match in a beret.
1978: Argentina 3-1 Netherlands (aet; 1-1 after 90 mins)
Argentina 78 was every bit as controversial as Qatar 22, played against a grim backdrop: General Videla’s military junta, the Disappeared, accusations of bribery. Step in self-proclaimed socialist César Luis Menotti, the manager doing it for the people. His efforts nearly didn’t get their reward, Netherlands striker Rob Rensenbrink coming within the width of the left-hand post of winning the final for the Dutch in injury time. Argentina escaped, and Mario Kempes spurred the hosts to extra-time victory on a pitch littered with ticker tape. Argentina finally got their hands on the World Cup, nearly half a century after coming so close first time around.
1986: Argentina 3-2 West Germany
This was a fairly one-sided affair for 74 minutes, Jose Luis Brown and Jorge Valdano putting Argentina two goals up. But then a couple of Andy Brehme corners from the left turned the game. First Karl-Heinz Rummenigge tapped home, then Rudi Voller scrambled an equaliser for West Germany on 82 minutes. The game was suddenly in the balance … for three minutes, after which the previously quiet but utterly irrepressible Diego Maradona slipped a delightful through ball to Jorge Burrachaga, who had an awful long time to think about missing, but didn’t. Argentina had their second World Cup, a mere eight years after claiming their first.
1990: West Germany 1-0 Argentina
Argentina at Italia ‘90 is one of the great under-rated World Cup campaigns. Maradona sashayed through the entire tournament metaphorically flicking Vs left, right and centre. He turned goalkeeper against the USSR and got away with it. He did for fierce rivals Brazil with one of the great assists, setting up Claudio Caniggia while being mugged and playing with a dodgy foot. He missed a quarter-final penalty against Yugoslavia, but then in the semi at his home club ground in Naples, put another in exactly the same place to knock out Italy, a country he’d nearly plunged into civil war during the run-up to the game with some hilariously brazen north-south divide-and-rule you-belong-to-me mind games. The final was a step too far, however. West Germany were too good, and the referee wasn’t having any of Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti’s nonsense. Off you go, lads. Thanks to a late Brehme penalty, the Germans had their third World Cup. Argentina could console themselves with having irritated purists and hipsters worldwide. Hats off to them for that. A bravura performance.
1998: France 3-0 Brazil
France had twice previously fallen at the semi-final stage in spectacular fashion: 5-2 to Brazil in 1958, in a game in which Vavá crocked captain Robert Jonquet after 26 minutes; then in 1982 on penalties after an exhilarating 3-3 draw with West Germany, during which Toni Schumacher nearly killed Patrick Battiston. They’d also failed to turn up for the semi-final rematch with West Germany in 1986, but the less said about that 2-0 elongated yawn the better. So it was fourth semi lucky on home soil in 1998, when Lilian Thuram’s uncharacteristic goalscoring heroics turned things around against Croatia. Zinedine Zidane took up the attacking slack in the final against Brazil with a couple of first-half headers, Emmanuel Petit wrapping up a 3-0 win during the last knockings. The team became poster boys for the new multi-cultural France, and this may just be the first precis of the 1998 final that doesn’t take a deep dive into the subject of Ronaldo’s pre-match fitness.
2006: Italy 1-1 France (aet; 1-1 after 90 mins; Italy won 5-3 on pens)
Zinedine Zidane nearly missed a Panenka, then stuck the nut on Italy’s Marco Materazzi. Beauty is truth, truth beauty, and that is all ye need to know.
2014: Germany 1-0 Argentina (aet; 0-0 after 90 mins)
Argentina had laboured to a semi-final victory on penalties against the Netherlands, while Germany had done a number – specifically the number seven – on hosts Brazil. Lionel Messi wasn’t really at the top of his game during these finals, either, so with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, the result of this match seems inevitable. And yet. Gonzalo Higuain missed a golden chance to put Argentina ahead in the first half. He had an effort disallowed for offside. Rodrigo Palacio floated a chip off target while one on one with Manuel Neuer. Messi duelled with Neuer as well, only to drag dismally wide. Mario Goetze made them pay. To add insult to injury, an understandably seething Messi was forced to hang around interminably post-defeat to be presented with the player-of-the-tournament award. Oh Sepp. How could you be so tactless.
2018: France 4-2 Croatia
The highest-scoring final since 1966 had pretty much everything. Mario Mandžukić scored the first-ever own goal in the showpiece’s history. Ivan Perisic equalised for Croatia with a pearler. France regained the lead through VAR, then pulled away with a spectacular quickfire second-half double through Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé. Hugo Lloris handed Mandžukić a little redemption on a plate, after which the heavens opened during the trophy presentation on Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and her French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Vladimir Putin was given an umbrella to stand under, though, the wee nyaff.
So that’s the historical context as the 2022 final looms. Not long now! Kick-off is at 3pm GMT, 7pm at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, midday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and 4pm in Paris, France. يحدث! It’s on!
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