It took a decade and a half, but he did it. It took years of disappointment, a brief retirement from the Argentina national team, five World Cup appearances, a ton of frustration, the survival of two wild and furious France comebacks and a nerve-shredding penalty shootout Sunday.

But history will only remember that on a December night in Qatar, the world's most popular player finally won soccer's most important trophy, as his country beat France in one of the most thrilling finals in World Cup history.

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/lionel-messi-powers-argentina-past-france-in-dramatic-world-cup-final

A fitting finale to Messi's career. A pity it had to end in a penalty shoot out.

3 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

A fitting finale to Messi's career. A pity it had to end in a penalty shoot out.

Although it was just Messi's final Argentinian game , he will continue playing for PSG and continue his football career 

Thank goodness that it’s all over now. 

Just now, Bluespunk said:

Thank goodness that it’s all over now. 

I agree. I'm sick of CNN and the BBC not only covering the cup games on the sports segments but also hijacking the news segments as well.

Incredible match and the right team won. 

Yes football is boring as f sometimes but when it's incredibly exciting, you can't beat it. 

 

Argentina needed this.

Did you know about La Abuela (granny) La La La La, the viral sensation?

 

 

Troll posts reported and removed.  

 

Fantastic final.

Missed this incident. 
 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/18/mixed-reaction-as-lionel-messi-draped-in-arab-cloak-before-lifting-world-cup?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

What a brilliant game. Really happy to see Messi get the win his career deserved, and it was double sweet having seen Macron in the stands cheering on France ????.

Troll memes removed

Fantastic game, fantastic tournament (somewhat surprisingly).

 

Football is confirmed as the World's sport.

 

Looking forward to the Premier League's re-start!

...and so another World Cup is decided, essentially, on a coin toss.  Well, I suppose it is somewhat justified, since Argentina scored first in extra time. But truly an anticlimactic way to decide what is at heart a team sport.  

"It took a decade and a half, but he did it."

Correction THEY did it. Football is a team sport. It's not tennis. Commentators  I watched (rightly) mentioned what a great team effort all Argentine players were giving, all at least rating an 8.

Congrats at last to Argentina, wonderful job in a superb match

5 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

...and so another World Cup is decided, essentially, on a coin toss.  Well, I suppose it is somewhat justified, since Argentina scored first in extra time. But truly an anticlimactic way to decide what is at heart a team sport.  

Argentina scored more penalties than France, so how was this match " .. decided, essentially, on a coin toss"?

 

The penalties during normal time were also a match-up between Messi/ Lloris and Mbappe/ Martinez. Individual 'battles' within a team game. Just one of the many elements which help explain why football (soccer) is the world's most popular sport.

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by RayC
Clarification

The last time I saw a sub have such an impact on the Argentinians, it was HMS Conquerer in 1982!

I'm wondering if all professional sporting events are rigged.

The last Superbowl (American football) seemed rigged, with horrendous calls made at crucial moments in the game. 

The theory is there was a new modern stadium built, so they had to let that team win to pay off the stadium. 

 

In this tournament, the most penalty calls in favor of any team were suspiciously for Argentina. 

 

Consider this. Messi is Fifa's precious boy. They want him to have the perfect career. When they artificially create legends, it generates more interest in the game. 

 

Sth else I find extremely odd. Every single player on the French team is of African descent, yet an African team never seems to make it to the semi-finals of these tournaments? 

 

 

3 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

That is what Americans call the game and that's what it was called in the U.K 100 years ago , these days the game is referred to as football , although some people just use the word soccer  to try to annoy others ,

   

SOCCER is a word invented to describe Association Football to differentiate it from Rugby Football.

Was/is there not a program on telly called Soccer Sunday?

Messi walks 85% of the game.

 

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A truly exciting match with arguably GOAT players on each team!

Argentina proved to be the winner after all was said and done !

Im happy for their fans ! Just watching them all come together during their national anthem was heart warming.

One of the best WC finals EVER.

still watching highlights ,over and over!

 

Edited December 19, 20223 yr by riclag