An unforgettable moment in the history of soccer: the celebration of Lionel Messi’s world cup victory over France in the semi-regular final

As the dust settles on an enthralling month of soccer action, fans have been treated to arguably one of the greatest ever World Cup tournaments in the sport’s history.

This was a final that had superstar rivalries, penalties, iconic goals and goalkeeping masterclasses, culminating in Lionel Messi’s crowning as world champion after Argentina beat France on penalties.

It was taken by a photographer who had a front row seat to one of the most significant moments in the World Cup, and was uploaded to Messis account to celebrate his victory over France.

Mbappé was defending France’s 2018 win at the tournament in Russia, Messi was playing in his final World Cup match, looking to claim the trophy which has eluded him for so long and which would enable him to match Diego Maradona’s achievement of winning the 1986 competition.

Then in the final moments of the game, Mbappe was unstoppable, scoring two goals and sending the game into extra time.

The Argentina captain was mobbed by his teammates as the World Cup dream of him and France was realized in real time, despite both teams missing penalties.

Two soccer players with differing careers demonstrated the beautiful game in vivid, glorious technicolor over two hours.

Previously at Qatar 2022, one team had already experienced the intensity of that pressure cooker atmosphere and emerged the other side, and one which had not.

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In Sunday’s final, Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez showing his ability to distract the French takers, throwing the ball away before Aurélien Tchouaméni attempt, which flew wide. France’s previous attempt – from Kingsley Coman – had been saved by Martinez.

A World Cup final with a lot at stake heightens the tension and drama of a penalty shootout; it is unlike anything else in sports.

While France was pressing for an goal in the 35th minute, Messi found the corner and it gave Argentina some respite.

Unselfishly, Mac Allister had the presence of mind to square the ball to Ángel Di María who finished off a brilliant sweeping counterattack to put Argentina 2-0 up.

After his penalty reduced the deficit to 2-1, a neat one-two with Marcus Thuram had the ball falling to the PSG star out of the sky on the edge of Argentina’s penalty area.

In 1950, Uruguay upset Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, while four years later, West Germany provided another huge surprise, beating Hungary’s Magical Magyars, earning the country its first World Cup title.

Geoff Hurst scored the first World Cup final hat-trick in the 1966 final between England and West Geramy. Hurst’s second goal is still talked about 56 years later – had the ball crossed the line? According to officials from the game, England won 4-2.

The host West Germany came from behind to beat the Dutch team in the second edition of the World Cup.

Much like Messi at Qatar 2022, Diego Maradona almost single-handedly drove his team to its second title in eight years, beating West Germany 3-2 in the final.

In 1998, France hosted and won its first World Cup, mainly down to the genius of Zinedine Zidane, who scored twice in the final, to beat a formidable Brazil side, composed of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu, Bebeto and Roberto Carlos.

Photojournalist Lionel Botterill takes a picture of the Argentina fans in front of the advertising billboards: a smile on the face of an Argentina captain

A broad smile is visible on his face as he looks at it, it is the culmination of a lifelong dream after five years of World Cup disappointment.

The plan was for the photographer to take a picture of the Argentina fans from the main stand in the Lusail Stadium, in front of the advertising billboards.

“I almost got trapped, but just got trapped in the right place,” Botterill tells CNN. “I think if most of us [photographers] are honest, you always need a bit of luck and I had a bit on Sunday night.

The man is holding the World Cup in front of you on the shoulders of his teammate, and you can see that to his fans.

The people had no idea what was going to happen. You can plan for the trophy lift, but you can’t plan for the run around and you don’t know how chaotic it’s going to be. I was close to him and it was probably two meters away.

The camera was plugged into his camera after Botterill grabbed a cable from the remote cameras behind the goal and carried his friend away from the stand.

Botterill was quite pleased with the picture he took, but it was always a concern for him that another photographer at a different angle might have captured a better picture.

The British photographer admits the crop Messi used on Instagram wasn’t his favorite version of the photo, with the wider view providing greater context and better capturing the adulation the Argentina captain was receiving.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/21/football/shaun-botterill-photographer-lionel-messi-instagram-most-liked-spt-intl/index.html

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“I actually do remember thinking: ‘Blimey, how the hell have I ended up where I am?’” Botterill says. You are governed by where the mass is pushing you.

While he doesn’t own a social media account,Botterill was unaware of the fact that his photo had made history.

On Wednesday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that Messi’s Instagram post, fronted by Botterill’s snap, had broken the record for the most likes in the app’s history. At the time of writing it has more than 69 million likes – and is still rising.

The 55 year old guy has two kids who think he is the funniest man in the world.

“It’s kind of crazy because … I didn’t really have a clue what was going on,” Botterill adds. “It’s only when a colleague messaged me and said: ‘Oh, have you seen how many likes [your photo has]?’

The picture of a great player is a nice picture for me, but everybody else can decide what to think about it. You have to work this way.

After 36 years in the industry, Botterill says he still feels the same passion and excitement he had as an 18-year-old just starting out when trying to capture sport’s iconic moments.

After covering his first World Cup in 1986 as an editor, Botterill took a career break and even turned down the chance to go to the 1990 World Cup as he was busy scaffolding. He returned to photography to cover the 1994 World Cup and has been to every edition since.

Born near the English town of Northampton in 1967, Botterill got his first break at the age of 16 at the agency founded by renowned sports photographer Bob Thomas, working in the dark room.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/21/football/shaun-botterill-photographer-lionel-messi-instagram-most-liked-spt-intl/index.html

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He reveals that photographers are quite amusing, and are always looking for the next decent picture, rather than dwelling on a snap.

I think when you see a picture of a sports person or a player that is up there, they can debate if he is the greatest ever. Is it Maradona?” He says so.