DOHA, Qatar — Lionel Messi finally got the one prize that had eluded him, a World Cup title, but he and his Argentine teammates had to work for it, beating France 4-2 in a penalty kick shootout Sunday after a game that ended in a 3-3 draw.
Argentina made all four of its penalties, the last by Gonzalo Montiel sneaking in at the left post as French keeper Hugo Lloris dove the other way. Argentina's Emiliano Martínez made one save and France’s Aurelien Tchouameni pushed his try wide of the left post.
Four of the last five World Cups have gone to extra time with two decided on penalty kicks.
Argentina appeared to have the game won twice, first in regulation time, where it led 2-0 with less than 10 minutes to play. But Kylian Mbappe, Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate, scored two goals a minute apart to tie the game.
Messi’s first goal and two of Mbappe’s came on penalties.
First-half goals by Messi and Ángel Di María gave Argentina what looked to be a comfortable lead. But Mbappe evened things, the first goal coming after first-half substitute Randal Kolo Muani went down in the box after a challenge from Nicolás Otamendi drawing a penalty and the second after second-half substitute Kingsley Coman took the ball away from Messi at midfield. Mbappe wound up with it well outside the box and sent it on for Marcus Thuram. With Mbappe charging into the box on the left side, Thuram gave the ball back and an off-balance Mbappe buried his shot as he slid to the turf.
Messi then appeared to win the game again three minutes into the second extra-time period, knocking in the rebound of a shot by Lautaro Martínez. But Mbappe pulled that back with a penalty shot eight minutes later.
Argentina gave away a 2-0 lead to the Netherlands in the final seven minutes, plus stoppage time, in the quarterfinals, eventually advancing on penalty kicks. It also gave away a 2-0 lead in the final 16 minutes of the World Cup final in 1986 before winning in extra time.
A seven-time world player of the year, Messi has won virtually everything there is to win in international soccer but has nonetheless played much of his career in the shadow of Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to that last world championship in 1986. Sunday’s win removes that shadow.
And fittingly Messi’s fingerprints were all over both the tournament and the final, where he scored two goals and converted his penalty try in the shootout.
Six of Messi’s seven goals in Qatar have given Argentina a lead while his 13 goals and eight assists in 26 World Cup games have given him a hand in 21 scores, more than any player since at least 1966. He is also the first player to score in the group stage, round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final of the same tournament.
But France, bidding to become the first repeat winner in the men’s World Cup since Brazil in 1962, wouldn’t go away. Or rather Mbappe wouldn’t. His hat trick Sunday gave him a tournament-high eight goals in Qatar and, combined with his goal in the 2018 final, gave him four goals in World Cup finals, the most ever. And he’s just 23.
After the loss he had to be consoled by French President Emmanuel Macron and Martínez, the Argentine goalie.
Injuries robbed France of as many as six starters, including reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, who tore a muscle in his left thigh days before the team’s World Cup opener. But others stepped in in their absence, with Olivier Giroud replacing Benzema at striker and Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot filling the midfield void left by the absence of N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, to get France back to the championship game.
France has played in the final of four of the last seven World Cups, winning twice.
———
