ARGENTINA claimed their third World Cup title today after beating France 4-2 on penalties in one of the most spectacular finals ever at the Lusail Stadium in Doha.
Full-time and extra-time ended 3-3 after France fought back three times, and the game went into a shootout.
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe were the stars of the dramatic final, both Paris Saint-Germain forwards contributing five of the six goals on the night.
While Messi netted twice, Mbappe scored a hat-trick — the first in a World Cup final since 1966 — but still ended up on the losing side.
Messi looked to be securing the one major honour missing from his glittering collection without much stress as Argentina eased into a two-goal lead, the captain opening the scoring from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute and getting involved as Angel Di Maria doubled the advantage 13 minutes later.
France looked leggy and lethargic up until the 80th minute when they came alive and turned the game on its head.
Mbappe scored twice in two minutes to complete the previously inconceivable turnaround.
The 23-year-old first converted from the penalty spot in the 80th minute and struck two minutes later with a brilliant volley from inside the Argentina box.
Argentina were flustered by France’s sudden resurgence and were hanging on by the time the whistle for full-time sounded.
Messi then put Argentina ahead again in the 18th minute of extra-time, but France refused to be beaten.
Mbappe was the scorer again as the 2018 champions made it 3-3, netting another penalty after Argentina were punished for handball two minutes from the end.
In the shootout, Argentina converted all their four penalties through Messi, Paulo Dynala, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel.
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved from Kingsley Coman while Aurelien Tchouamen screwed his effort well wide.
With the victory, Argentina claimed their third World Cup title and became the first South American team to claim it since Brazil in 2002.
