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LUSAIL, Qatar – Occasionally a game will squirm out of its standard definition and take on certain human traits. It will defy presumption, blinding and stunned, stunned and agitated, dodged and flinched, almost as if it were cackling. It will take on a life of its own – unusually alive and perhaps even delighted with its own whim.
Then sometimes, like that endorphin festival of a World Cup final between Argentina and France on Sunday night in a fancy roar at the Lusail Stadium, it will perform a trick the rest of the world can’t: it will go ahead and immediately prove itself immortal .
That’s where this one is headed now, as the roughly a billion who watched begin the tough art of processing Argentina and their 35-year-old world hero Lionel Messi defeat France and their 23-year-old world hero Kylian Mbappé (4). have -2 on penalties after a surreal 3-3 draw. You can try to remember the ride this thing took many of the 46 million Argentines and the 67 million French and much of the rest of the world, from 2-0 for Argentina after 79 minutes to 2-2 after 90 to 3-2 Argentina after 108 to 3-3 after 120 on penalties. Here this whole episode continues and breathes into the future.
Lionel Messi clinches the World Cup as Argentina defeats France in a riveting final
In cafes and barbershops and pubs and classrooms and caves, people can go on and on about a night where one manager, Argentinian Lionel Scaloni, said: “The game was completely insane”, while the other, French Didier Deschamps, said: “We managed to rise from the dead.”
It’s moving towards June 2026 when the next Men’s World Cup begins in the USA, Mexico and Canada. This event will take place in a gigantic room after this one takes place in a little thumb of a country, but how about the 2022 finals? This event lacks Messi but shines with the near-dynasty of France, which has a slew of young stars – but, hey, how about the 2022 final? How close were the French to embarking on their quest for an unprecedented third straight World Cup in 2026, but also, how about the final in 2022?
People at a distance might not even be able to determine where it happened, which will relieve those who wish it hadn’t happened here, with its controversial multitude of charms and concerns.
On December 18, after a three-hour game, fans celebrated Argentina’s World Cup title. (Video: The Washington Post)
People can talk about how Messi got the trophy and the accolade he’s chased through five World Cups just before the curtain was due to fall on that chase. You can talk about how Mbappé made the game one of those occasions that flatters the loser as much as the winner, and his own blossoming image as someone who shakes the ground, who was the first man to score three goals in in a World Cup final since England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966, whose 81st-minute equalizer is perhaps the greatest memory in that barrage of astonishment.
“He can change a game in an instant,” said Deschamps at the start of the tournament, as France overcame a staggering string of injuries to become the first holders since Brazil 1998 to advance to the next final. Now the wild final moments had wrapped up, with Deschamps saying: “Kylian really put his stamp on this finale. Unfortunately he didn’t leave it the way he would have liked and that’s why he was so disappointed.”
The disappointment on that face will also remain in our memory. That face said so much about the whole thing.
Some – those in the northern hemisphere, for example – will marvel at how, at 120+3, that scarce third minute of added time, Mbappé looked keen to get the whole thing over the line with an outrageous move by the defenders themselves on the left side and into the box.
Others – those in the southern hemisphere, for example – may recall that just before something even bigger than the rest could have happened, an Argentine substitute, Paulo Dybala, tucked the ball away.
“Argentina is holding out”: Emotional celebrations of World Cup victory in Buenos Aires
Among the geeks, one could talk about the slick managerial decisions, such as Scaloni’s start of 34-year-old Ángel Di María, who pursued the French early on from the left, caused a penalty after which Messi scored and didn’t convert much later. Or maybe they’re talking about France’s 41st-minute substitutions, which brought in the outstanding energy of Randal Kolo Muani, still 24, and Marcus Thuram, still 25. Speakers may note how the game managed to incorporate a spark of justice as Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel – whose play of the ball with his arm in the 118th minute earned a penalty and a goal from Mbappé and a win 10 minutes after Messi Delayed and looked like he’d just scored – that win came with the final penalty.
Some will remember some of the threats and horrors in the back and forth of overtime. Some will remember others.
On the streets of Argentinian cities, people in the crowd will remember how they ran on the streets of Argentinian cities after waiting 36 years to run on the streets of Argentinian cities. “Well, that’s way too much,” said Scaloni, who had helped help the Argentines through a difficult economic moment. He added: “Our problems are not going anywhere; You will be a little bit happier though, and that’s great.”
But most of all, the people of a planet long gone mad about the sport will remember how the evening finally tipped over to Messi, whose name has long been on the backs of shirts around the world. You will remember walking to his family and the Argentinian fans making so much noise it was almost audible some 8,300 miles away in Buenos Aires. You will remember how he looked, how his hard pursuit of international trophies at the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup ended gloriously: the former in front of a nearly empty stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the latter in front of 88,966 in a newborn stadium excelling at sticking to its noise – the same stadium Argentina started here with big noise from the other side in a stunning 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia here last month.
It’s a funny planet wishing peace of mind to a world citizen worth hundreds of millions visible on billboards across the different continents. Yet that’s exactly what the world wanted to see on Messi’s familiar face after all those years of sorcery, and that’s what the world finally saw after a match that became his own unforgettable life.
World Cup in Qatar
The newest: Argentina won the World Cup, beating France on penalties in a thrilling last Sunday in Lusail, Qatar to celebrate their first World Cup since 1986. Argentina was spearheaded by world soccer star Lionel Messi in what is likely to be his final appearance at the World Cup. France was bidding to become the first repeat champions since Brazil had won back-to-back trophies in 1958 and 1962.
Today’s worldview: In the minds of many critics, especially in the West, the World Cup in Qatar will always remain a controversial tournament. But Qatar’s foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, wants people to see things differently.
Perspective: “America isn’t a men’s soccer joke right now. It’s aligned with, and aligned with, what works for the rest of the world rather than stubbornly forcing an American sports culture — without the benefit of the best talent — into international competition.” Read Jerry Brewer on the future of the US Men’s National Team.
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