Lionel Messi’s final World Cup victory in Albiceleste: The story of a hero in the penalty shootout
The dream of Lionel Messi to lead Argentina to the World Cup glory will remain alive until the very last day of the World Cup in Qatar, as the Albiceleste beat Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Leading 2-0 with just eight minutes remaining thanks to goals from Nahuel Molina and Messi, the Netherlands staged a stunning comeback as a Wout Weghorst’s brace ensured the game went to extra time.
A hero in the penalty shootouts of Argentina, with a record of three saves in the finals of the 2015 edition of the Copa America, Martinez has gone on to win the crown in the upcoming World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
After Enzo Fernandez missed the first penalty that would have given Argentina victory, Lautaro Martinez stepped up and hammered home the winning spot kick to send the thousands of Argentine fans inside the Lusail Stadium into delirium.
Argentina’s players took in the adulation of their fans and remained on the pitch for over two hours after the penalty shoot out.
It was a remarkable ending to a World Cup match, one that surpassed all the other ones.
Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz, known for his eccentricity and enjoyment of the limelight, certainly added to the drama, dishing out an numerous yellow cards, including one in the shootout, as he struggled to keep control of the game.
There were at least three mass brawls, the first of which was sparked when Leandro Paredes smashed a ball into the Netherlands dugout at the side of the pitch.
This match will undoubtedly go down as an all-time World Cup classic, but Argentina will quickly need to bring itself down back to earth ahead of the semifinal against knockout specialist Croatia.
Now, with a 3-3 (4-2 penalty kick shootout) victory over defending champion France, Lionel Messi can call himself a World Cup champion in what was probably his final World Cup match. It’s Argentina’s third title and those early whispers have been replaced by tears and cheers.
Few fans would have placed Argentina among the favorites ahead of the tournament, but with Messi in the team’s ranks anything is possible, at any time.
Under head coach Lionel Scaloni, a former Argentine international, the team is in a better place than it has been for some quite some time and in 2021 won the Copa America, the national team’s first major trophy since 1993 and Messi’s first in the famous blue and white shirt.
However, Argentina was yet to put together a convincing 90 minutes in Qatar and defensive frailties that has hindered it in recent years undoubtedly remain.
The Dutch, meanwhile, failed to impress in the group stages but were greatly improved in the 3-1 round of 16 win over the the United States Men’s National Team and Memphis Depay’s opener in that game, a patient, probing team move, is without question one of the best goals of the tournament so far.
This was the sixth World Cup game between the two teams and has provided a lot of history over the years. From a Mario Kempes-inspired victory in the 1978 final to Dennis Bergkamp’s stunning goal in the 1998 quarterfinals, this rivalry was ready for another player to write their name in soccer folklore.
Running towards the left-hand side of the penalty area, the Argentina captain played an absurd reverse pass perfectly into the path of Molina, who took one touch and poked the ball past Andries Noppert.
The replays showed that Messi did not even look up to see the run and how he saw the pass. Just when you think you’ve seen it all in his 18-year career, Messi still finds a way to leave mouths agape.
Messi looked to have won the game in the 100th minute but it was Mbappé who scored from the spot in the 116th minute to make it 2-2 and send the game to penalties.
Having offered so little for more than 80 minutes, the Netherlands opted to hammer long ball after long ball towards the Argentina penalty area, aiming for the 6 feet 6 inch substitute Weghorst and Virgil Van Dijk.
The game looked like it was going to be a shoot out, but when Weghorst played a brilliant pass to him, he turned the defender and put the ball into the net.
The World Cup Finale with the World Cup Winner, Marko Messi – His Memory and His Journey to a Grand Final with the Lusail Stadium
The Netherlands bench emptied to celebrate by the corner flag and silenced the Argentina fans, who had been so loud throughout the game.
It was an almost inconceivable turn of events with Weghorst, who struggled to make an impact at Burnley and is currently loaned out to Besiktas, temporarily putting a halt to Messi’s seemingly inevitable march towards a World Cup title.
Argentina entered this match having lost only one of their last 41 international games (28 wins, 12 draws). Croatia, runners-up in the World Cup, lost one of their last 12 matches.
Messi spent parts of the game feeling his left hamstring, though you wouldn’t have guessed he was in any discomfort by the way his mazy, twisting run bamboozled Joško Gvardiol, one of this tournament’s best defenders, to create Argentina’s third goal.
Messi’s near superhuman powers are undoubtedly dwindling as he plays into the twilight of his career, but the little magician still has the ability to deliver moments of genius just when his country needs him most.
His goal against Mexico in the group stages, the assist against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and his overall performance in Tuesday’s semfinal have provided yet more memorable moments to a nation of 45 million people that consider him to be not far from a deity.
The nearly 89,000 people inside Lusail Stadium were overwhelmingly for Argentina – most wearing the team’s trademark white and sky blue uniform. It was powered by electricity. They applauded every shot, every touch, and every pass.
As the clocked ticked deeper into injury time and the victory was beyond doubt, the Argentina bench and coaching staff began to join in with the rhythmic songs and chants that were being bellowed from the stands.
Croatia’s last shot on the World Cup: a late-time brane-finishing effort for a superb team like Modri and Messi
It is the last chance for both Messi and Modri to get their hands on the World Cup trophy, as each have lost it in the past.
Though Croatia started the match marginally the better of the two teams, these players had played as many minutes as were possible so far in Qatar, winning against Japan and Brazil on penalties following two energy-sapping spells of extra time.
Modri is a veteran of the biggest games in Croatia, and has been a key member of the team that has been one of the best in the tournament.
Argentina, similarly, has also improved as the tournament has gone on – though it was hardly able to get any worse after that stunning defeat to Saudi Arabia.
The script is written for Messi to have a last dance on Sunday, but the team that took to the pitch that day is almost completely different.
That proved to be the case for Croatia as, surprisingly, Modrić of all people gave the ball away in midfield and Gvardiol failed to track Alvarez, leaving Dominik Livakovic – twice Croatia’s shootout in Qatar – exposed one-on-one against the Manchester City forward.
Argentina fans inside the Lusail Stadium were raptured by Messi picking up the ball and running Gvardiol ragged before finding Alvarez inside the box.
Only a stunning reflex save from Livakovic prevented the score getting any worse for Croatia before half time, but it would take something extra special, even for a team that is used to conjuring footballing miracles, to come back from this one.
However, Croatia offered little going forward in the second half, a combination of weary attacking play and stout Argentine defending, and its stay of execution lasted until the 70th minute.
Argentina and Lionel Messi at the World Cup Final in AL Daayen, Qatar – 25 years after his World Cup victory
AL DAAYEN, Qatar — Argentina and Lionel Messi have done it yet again. The South American nation will play in the World Cup final.
In 1930, Argentina defeated the USA to reach the World Cup semifinals, as well as beating Belgium in 1986 and Italy in 1990. And it is the sixth time it has advanced to a final. Argentina hadn’t won the World Cup in 30 years.
The beautiful tandem of Messi and Álvarez had one more sparkling moment against Croatia. In the 69th minute, Messi had a flash of unbelievable ballhandling against Croatia defender Joško Gvardiol on the right side of the goal. Messi found lvarez who powered it in for the third and final goal. Of Croatia’s twelve shots on goal, only two were on target.
Messi’s fifth goal of the tournament moved him ahead of Kylian Mbappé of France for the tournament lead in Golden Boot competition, as well as moving him to the top of the all-time scoring list at the tournament. Messi is going to set a new record in the finals. This was his 25th World Cup match and he joins Lothar Matthäus for all-time FIFA appearances.
The FIFA media center is empty: journalists’ condolences at the World Cup in Croatia and November’s most important game of the tournament
The winner of Wednesday’s semifinals will play Argentina on Sunday. Croatia’s World Cup tournament is not done yet. It will play in the third place match on Saturday against the loser of tomorrow’s semifinal.
There have been three deaths of journalists at the World Cup. ITV sports director Roger Pearce died last month. Khalid al-Misslam, a photographer for Al Kass TV, died suddenly this past weekend.
FIFA set up a trio of condolence books with the pictures of each journalist at the media center at Lusail Stadium. The media center is teeming and NPR’s Tom Goldman was among those who paid respects to those who died. But it’s empty.
The last game of the World Cup in November is the most important of all the 64 games, and it will be one of the most exciting games of the tournament.
Lionel Messi knocking it in: his first world cup goals in a tournament without a home-grown national goal (Italy)
This time it would be Argentina which scored in extra time. Did you ever think someone would knock it in? Lionel Messi, of course. The ball ricocheting in front of the French goal and Messi booting it in. In the 109th minute. His first goal of the night. 3-2.
France is the defending champion and no country has won back-to-back World Cup titles in 60 years (Brazil, in 1962, was the last). The Les Frances enter this match with a lot of talent.
He has five goals in this tournament and four in the previous year. He has amazing speed, as well as ballhandling and trickery. In the same year that he became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pelé in 1962, he overtook Pelé’s world cup scoring record for a player under the age of 24. And, like Messi, Mbappé has a World Cup title.
But soccer is a team sport with ten other players on the field. While most attention goes to Mbappé or Olivier Giroud (France’s all-time goal leader), one of France’s most important players in Qatar has been Antoine Griezmann. After a number of French injuries, the forward was moved to the middle and has excelled. He’s helped keep the team together.
Buenos Aires: La Feuilleta de Monte-Carlo en la finale del Campionato del Estado Centenario
It was a final for the ages, with momentum swinging both ways throughout a pulsating 120 minutes before Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning penalty after the game had finished 3-3 after extra time.
But just when it looked like the trophy was heading to Argentina, France was handed a lifeline after Randal Kolo Muani was brought down in the box and talisman Mbappé, who was peripheral for much of the match, scored the resulting penalty in the 80th minute.
France’s Kingsley Coman saw his spot kick saved by Emiliano Martinez, who was named as the tournament’s best goalkeeper, and Aurelien Tchouameni pulled his effort wide before Montiel secured Argentina’s third World Cup title and a first since 1986.
Argentina got the better of France early in the game, pressing it and forcing it to make mistakes.
Messi looked sharp from the off, picking up pockets of space and instigating attacks, while Mbappé didn’t see much of the ball during the opening stages.
France did not seem like it was out of sorts. Coach Didier Deschamps did the unthinkable – replaced two of his starters in the first half: Dembélé (whose foul led to the first goal) and all-time French scoring leader Olivier Giroud.
The golden trophy that Argentina worked so hard to win, was left behind by Messi as the dust settled on a final like no other.
The statistics were clear. Losing the first game makes it almost impossible to advance to the knockout round. Argentina won the group and never stopped, so its advancement was a foregone conclusion.
The South Americans were not done. Argentina dominated the French defense in the 36th minute. The chances were created again with just two crisp passes, as well as Di Mara lifting the ball above the diving French keeper and into the net. The two were 2-0.
The French team was expected to see in the final. It was finally Messi vs. Mbappé. The 35-year-old, one of the best ever to play the game, against the 23 year old, who is one of the best soccer players in the world.
Both sides were battling in the last minutes. The World Cup final will likely go down as the greatest in history, as it comes down to a penalty kick shootout.
La vida del jugador de Lionel Messi: el teorem del World Cup 2022
Argentina is the host of the 2022 World Cup. It’s Argentina’s third title and the first for Lionel Messi. He was the World Cup champion for the first time. His last chance was this one. His resume is complete.