Argentina defeated France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup for a third time on Sunday. Argentina captain Lionel Messi scored twice and French striker Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick as a thrilling World Cup final at Lusail Stadium ended 3-3. In an extraordinary night of high drama, Argentine substitute Gonzalo Montiel stroked the winning penalty to seal an agonizing shoot-out defeat to defending champions France. France had fought back from 2-0 down and 3-2 down in extra time to make it 3-3 and take the game to penalties.
Messi had put Argentina ahead from the penalty spot in the first half before Angel Di Maria made it 2-0.
The Argentines looked set for victory until Mbappé scored twice in the 80th and 81st minutes to make it 2–2.
France looked the most likely team to go through and win, but Messi put Argentina 3-2 ahead in extra time after jabbing home from close range after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was parried by French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
But there was more drama two minutes from the end of extra time when Montiel was awarded a handball penalty.
Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate Mbappe stepped up and scored from the spot for the second time to take the game to penalties.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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