CHRONIC. This World Cup in Qatar gave birth to an anthology final. If the meeting sometimes lacked control, it goes down in football history.
By Julien Rebucci
Published on
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MDespite the investigations into the deaths of the construction sites of the stadiums and the conditions of immigrants and LGBT people, this World Cup in Qatar ended with an anthology final. Indeed, the coronation of Argentina over France (3-3, 4-2 on penalties) will not fail to mark the history of football for several reasons.
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The first is the coronation of Lionel Messi. The best player in the world and perhaps in the history of this sport had the mission to bring the world trophy back to Argentina, 36 years after their last success and, above all, 2 years after the death of Diego Maradona, the icon of a whole people. Argentina had a god and now that god has a son. The 35-year-old striker marked this final with his genius left paw, finding the net twice (23e and 108e).
Mbappé’s hat-trick
The other reason is to be found on the side of the evening losers, the France team. Despite the tears and disappointment, the blue white red selection has in its ranks an extraordinary player in the person of Kylian Mbappé. Some will speak of a logical confirmation, but, by scoring a hat-trick in the World Cup final, the kid from Bondy also made history.
He becomes the second player to achieve such a feat after the Englishman Geoffrey Hurst, during the 1966 edition. Above all, at only 24 years old, he has already scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup matches. But, Sunday evening, the best footballer in the world was still Argentinian.
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Finally, this final, which took place in front of almost 90,000 people in the Lusail Iconic Stadium, will mark history with its incredible scenario. Argentina, carried by cosmic winds, dominated the first eighty minutes against an apathetic and unrecognizable France. But Kylian Mbappé did not intend to be upstaged by his Paris Saint-Germain teammate.
By a converted penalty then, a minute later, thanks to an extraordinary volley, he put a log back in an incandescent part. He almost changed the course of history: no, Messi will never win the World Cup and yes, France will achieve a historic double that only Italy (in 1934 and 1938) and Brazil (in 1958 and 1962 ) had made.
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Especially since the extension plunged us a little more into madness. First, because Messi struck first, doubling the lead. Then because Mbappé answered him. At 3-3, on the verge of apoplexy, it becomes difficult to find rational reasoning in a football World Cup final.
The epilogue of this tragedy thus intervened in this marvelous cruelty which is the shots on goal. An exercise where, whatever one may say, the technique is as important as the mind. And that requires experience and repetition. In this little game, the South Americans were therefore the strongest, while France failed.
So there remains a bit of morality in this historic meeting, in the starry night of Lusail, in Qatar: whoever talks about a lottery about penalty shootouts is often punished.