The 2022 FIFA World Cup Final between Argentina and France turned out to be one of the most captivating encounters ever. La Albiceleste looked the better side for most of the game and had a two-goal lead until Kylian Mbappé changed the course of the game with his double strikes in the 80th and 81st minutes. The rollercoaster of a match continued with Messi and Mbappé each also scoring once in extra time. France could have taken a late lead in the game through Randal Kolo Muani, but Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made a stunning save in the 123rd minute to keep the game level.
Kolo Muani received a nice pass from across the Argentine midfield, straight from one of the French defenders. He immediately got the ball under control and unleashed a powerful shot in hopes of beating Martinez. But the Aston Villa goalkeeper made a world-class save to fend off the Eintracht Frankfurt striker.
I don’t have the impact Kolo Muani had when he came on, but I score this.
Nice lob over Martinez, no smash and hope. All hypothetical, but the most concrete part of my gossip is that I’m not even French
pic.twitter.com/GjXSZLDT7A— Little D a (@LittleDanKMT) December 18, 2022
Martinez, who also won the Golden Glove for the best goalkeeper of the tournament, thanked and admitted that he could have dreamed of winning the World Cup in this way.
“Two lousy shots and they (France) leveled. They gave them another penalty and they scored. Thank God I did my thing later, which I dreamed of,” said Martinez, as reported by Reuters.
“There couldn’t have been a World Cup that I dreamed of so much. I was calm during the penalties.”
Argentina had blown a two-goal lead before finally emerging victorious in their last World Cup final victory 36 years ago, but there seemed little prospect of a repeat of that scenario.
However, the French suddenly had hope when they won a late penalty as Kolo Muani was brought down by Nicolas Otamendi.
Mbappé popped in the penalty kick and the watching French President Emmanuel Macron stood up. France had faith and within another minute they were tied.
Messi was robbed of possession by Coman in the run-up, before Mbappé found Thuram and then returned his partner’s knockdown with a stunning volley.
It will go down as one of the most dramatic moments in World Cup history, and the French players on the bench ran across the pitch to celebrate with their team-mate.
Argentina, who lost the 2014 final in extra time, looked shattered, and yet again it looked like they had won the final when Messi scored after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was saved.
But France were again saved by Mbappé as he converted another penalty after a Montiel handball. In the end, the match was decided via penalty kicks.
With AFP inputs
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