FIFA World Cup: Messi shines as Argentina crowned world champions

Lionel Messi shined as Argentina beat defending champions France on penalties after a 3-3 draw to clinch the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday.

The South American side beat France 4-2 on penalties.

Messi's initial touch in the third minute resulted in a pass being sent wide. It sparked an assault that culminated in a box shot by Julian Alvarez. He was however offside.

In the fifth minute, Alexis Mac Allister felt confident about his chances and unleashed a long shot directly at Hugo Lloris.

Hugo Lloris was bumped while attempting to recover the ball in the ninth minute, earning France a free kick.

A couple of bodies hit the ground, but it was Lloris that signalled the end of the attack.

France lost possession of the ball in the 17th minute, and Argentina quickly took the lead. Rodrigo de Paul was located in the box, but Angel di Maria punted his bobbling low ball over the crossbar.

Following Ousmane Dembele's foul on Angel Di Maria, Argentina was given a penalty. Messi stepped up and fired into the right side of the net, sending Hugo Lloris the wrong way.

Argentina extended their advantage to 2-0 in the 36th minute. Messi flicked the ball to Julian Alvarez to his right, who drove a low cross to Angel Di Maria, who arrived to stroke in a superb finish.

Before the break, France made two changes. Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani took the place of Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele.

In the 55th minute, Emi Martinez had a rush of blood. He charged out to meet a ball forward and almost gifts a shot at an open goal to France. Luckily, Argentina are able to smuggle the ball away.

In the 71st minute, France had a shot as Kylian Mbappe cut inside, keeping the ball after an Argentine tackle, but fired his shot over the bar.

The defending champions pulled one back in the 81st minute as Kylian Mbappe, France's saviour, converted a penalty to reduce the goal deficit to 2-1.

A minute later, Mbappe levelled the score after a well-worked goal by Les Bleus.

The magician Lionel Messi gave Argentina a 3-2 lead again in the 109th minute. Lautaro Martinez's effort was palmed out but Messi was there to seize his moment again. He fired a shot that was hacked away by a France defender but from way behind the goal line.

France won a penalty in the 117th minute as Mbappe's shot was blocked by the arm of an Argentine player in the box. He placed the penalty to complete his hattrick. 

In the penalty shootouts, France missed two out of four, while Argentina converted all four to clinch their third FIFA World Cup.

Individual awards: 

Argentina's Enzo Fernandez was declared the young player of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Messi won the Golden Ball for his sensational FIFA World Cup campaign.

Moreover, Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez was declared the best goal keeper of the tournament as he was awarded with the Golden Glove award.

On the other hand, Mbappe received the Golden Boot award for his seven goals as opposed to Messi's six.

Messi continued to break and make records at the FIFA World Cup 2022.

After a flawless penalty kick, Messi set a unique record with this score that solely bears his name.

With the penalty kick, Messi became the first player in FIFA World Cup history to score in each of the following rounds: group stage, round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship.

Despite making it to the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil, Messi has never scored in the elimination stages before this year's tournament.

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