Argentina has grabbed its third FIFA World Cup trophy after defeating France in penalty kicks.
The final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup was held in Qatar’s Lusail on Sunday.
The score was 3-3 after the normal play-time and an added time. The goals were scored by Lionel Messi (in the 23rd and 108th minutes) and Angel Di Maria (36th minute) for Argentina and Kylian Mbappe (80th, 81st, 118th minutes) for France. Argentina finally clinched the match 4-2 after penalty kicks.
This is Argentina’s third FIFA World Cup trophy after its win in 1978 and 1986.
The French team hoisted the World Cup trophy in 1998 and 2018.
Brazil has won the most FIFA World Cups, taking home five titles (in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). The Brazilian team is followed by Germany and Italy, which have won four World Cups each. Germany secured its FIFA World Cup wins in 1954, 1974, 1990, and 2014, while Italy was victorious in 1928, 1934, 1982 and 2006.
It was the 4th encounter between France and Argentina at the FIFA World Cup. Argentina came out victorious in 1930 and 1978 (1-0; 2-1 respectively), while France defeated Argentina 4-3 in Russia’s Kazan at the 2018 World Cup in the round of 16.
Argentina embarked on its tour in Qatar with an astonishing 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their first group stage match. However, the South American team later managed to defeat both Mexico and Poland by a score of 2-0, advancing to the knockout stage of the world championship.
In the playoff round, Argentina, led by Head Coach Lionel Scaloni, ousted Australia 2-1, edged the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout (2-2 in regulation time) and then breezed past Croatia 3-0.
France appeared in the World Cup final for the second time in a row - in 2018, Didier Deschamps' team defeated Croatia 4-2 in the decisive match in Moscow at Luzhniki Stadium. France confidently started the championship’s group stage with a 4-1 win over Australia, followed by a 2-1 victory over Denmark, but then lost 1-0 to Tunisia. In the playoff round the French football squad was unstoppable, beating Poland 3-1, England 2-1 and Morocco 2-0.
On Saturday, Croatia won the third-place match vs Morocco 2-1.
