By the 70th minute of the world cup final, perhaps the entire world had decided that this was going to be just another football match. Argentina were completely dominant, and Messi's crowning moment looked imminent. But the French prodigal son had other ideas in his mind. Ideas that would lead the beautiful game into a new era, and have that match declared as the very pinnacle of football. And he was ready to implement them right at that moment.
Hold up. Let's back up a bit and give you a bit of context. You likely already know about football. The 'beautiful game' as it is usually called, has 22 players, 11 on each side, running after a large ball, trying to force it into the opposition's goal. You also likely know about the Football World Cup, the largest viewed sporting event on the planet, with around 4 billion viewers this time around.
So, going into the world, there were a few narratives for the fans to look forward to. One of the main ones was this being Lionel Messi's last chance to win a world cup. Most of the avid fans of football consider Messi to be the greatest player of all time. He had won everything by then, but the world cup trophy had evaded him 4 times before, having been grabbed out of his hands in 2014. Everybody wanted Messi to win the World Cup. And the strong Argentina side was capable of fulfilling the dream of the little boy from Rosario, Santa Fe.
The other narrative was that of Kylian Mbappe. The prodigal son of French football was on a war path to lead his country to a second consecutive world cup victory, and be the first country since Brazil to do so. And by doing so, build the strongest foundation to be declared as the greatest player of all time by the time he retires. And even with a plethora of injuries, the French squad was more than capable of winning the cup. There was a reason this generation was called their golden generation.
And so the world cup began. Argentina were shocked in the very first game, but bounced back strong and reminded the world why they were undefeated for 32 games before the world cup. They used their tried and tested formula- defend with all their might and pray Messi does his thing to help them score a goal- was working perfectly for them. Match after match, they fought hard, with all their strength and grit. By the time they reached the finals, they had all become war veterans ready to cross the final hurdle to victory.
France, on the other hand, showed the might of their golden boys. They cruised through the group stage, losing only to Tunisia in a game that mattered not to them. And then they breezed past all their opponents, be it the giant English, the gritty Poles or the Atlas Lions of Morocco. They cared not who their opponents were. They showed up and won every match easily. And when they got to the finals, it looked like an unstoppable force was about to meet an immovable object.
Or so we thought. But come the final, France started extremely sluggishly. Argentina, being the eternal enthusiastic warriors they were, took quick advantage of this and established dominance over the French side. All that pressure paid off in the form of 2 goals- a penalty in the 23rd minute slotted home by Messi, and a brilliant counterattack finished by Angel Di Maria.
.jpg?itok=kxP7vsNX)
Deschamps, the French manager, attempted to do something about the situation, axing Dembele and Giroud in the 40th minute of the game, before making more subs later on. But it didn't look like it did anything. The Argentines were cruising and by the 80th minute, the entire world taught Argentina had this in the bag. Everyone, but one man.
A mistake by Otamendi gave France a way back, though it was in the form of a penalty against the Mind Master Emi Martinez. Martinez almost stopped Mbappe's penalty, but its sheer power drove it into the net.
And then in the very next minute, Mbappe did his thing and scored an exceptional goal to tie the game. He played a 1-2 with Kolo Muani in the air to get past the defender and scored the volley from a very tight angle. He alone burst the dead game into life.
But Messi had seen this coming. After the match, it was revealed that Messi said to his teammates during the break at full time, "Did you not expect this? This is the World Cup Final. Did you not see this coming? It was never going to be easy."
Extra time came, and the first half went by without any incident. In the second half, Messi used all his magical skills and forced the ball across the goal line. The world believed that this was the final great moment. Argentina had the world cup now. Surely.
"Not!" said Mbappe. He forced a shot on goal that was blocked by hand, and a penalty was called. And with all the calmness of the world, he scored the first world cup final hat trick since Geoff Hurst, the English World Cup Winner.
And so, the game was dragged into penalties. But actually, it almost wasn't. Kolo Muani was clean through on goal against Martinez in 120+3.1 minutes of 120+3. And Emiliano Martinez made what is likely to go down as the greatest save of all time.
So pens. Mbappe, the man with guts of steel, scored his third pen of the match. Messi matched his French counterpart and scored his own. Then Emi Martinez came into his groove and got into the minds of the French players, which led to the 2 next 3 players missing their pens, while the Argentines scored each one of theirs.
It all came down to Montiel, who slotted his penalty home to win his country their first world cup since the Late Diego Maradona won it for them, and give Messi his crowning piece while ending what would surely go down as the one of, if not the greatest match of football ever played.
So what was the outcome of the match? A third star on the jersey for Argentina? The perfect end to Lionel Messi's career? The handover of the baton as the next greatest player to Mbappe? Yes to all of that, and much more.
Because this game represents a new era in football. An era which will see the rise of the already world-famous sport to higher levels, levels that were never seen before. More kids will be inspired to play the beautiful game. More people will start following it. And football will no longer remain European and South American dominant, but a sport that each and every country loves from the bottom of its heart and tries to give everything towards.
As Dani Rojas says in Ted Lasso, "Football is Life!"
__________________________________________________________________________
If you liked this post, please share it across, and comment or send me a chat here or DM me on my Instagram linked below. Thanks!