ARGENTINA earned their first World Cup title since 1986 last night after a nail-biting final against France at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
Lionel Messi scored twice for Argentina as they beat the defending champions 4-2 on penalties after full-time and extra-time ended in a gripping 3-3 draw.
France’s young superstar Kylian Mbappe netted a hat-trick as his side came back from 2-0 to 2-2 in regulation time and from 3-2 to 3-3 in added time, but it was ultimately in vain.
After the utterly brilliant encounter, FIFA compiled some interesting statistics of the 22nd World Cup final, most of them involving Messi and Mbappe…
Lionel Messi played his 26th World Cup match to move one clear of Lothar Matthaus and claim the appearance record outright.
Messi’s strike from the penalty spot was Argentina’s 150th goal in World Cup matches. They are the third nation to reach that milestone after Brazil (237) and Germany (232).
Argentina scored the first goal in all seven of their matches at Qatar 2022.
Messi is the first player to score in the group stage, Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a single World Cup
Mbappe is the fifth and youngest player to score in two World Cup finals after Vava (1958, 1962), Pele (1958, 1970), Paul Breitner (1974, 1982) and Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2006).
Mbappe is only the second man to score a World Cup final hat-trick after Geoff Hurst in 1966.
