After 12 years, tattered schedules and a whirl of geopolitics; after death and spirits and suffering; after armbands, Hard Power, Davos in the Desert Vibe; After 64 games of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Lusail Stadium came up with a purely sporting surprise.
This was the biggest final of the FIFA World Cup. It was also Argentina’s third World Cup win, eventually beating France in a wildly oscillating 3-3 draw on penalties.
Significantly, it was also something of a crowning glory, belatedly, for the greatest footballer of his time, arguably of any age, the 35-year-old smart, agile head Lionel Messi, who has clocked up a thousand games in his astounding career.
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It was emotionally overwhelming, a game that seemed to have been won at least four times over 120 minutes before it finally came with the final kick of the tournament. There was a twist here too. This World Cup final was to be a meeting of geniuses, a dynastic arm wrestling between Messi and Kylian Mbappé. It did in many ways. Mbappé scored the first hat-trick in a men’s World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966 and still lost.
But the game also ended with good old-fashioned Malandro skill, embodied in the chest-blowing antics of Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who slung the ball away, advanced on the French kickers and almost screwed himself into the ground after every failed free-kick and had to go once be pushed back by the referee.
As Gonzalo Montiel’s winning shot puffed up the net, a wonderfully soft moment before the night dissolved into a surge of static electricity, Messi was buried under a blue and white knot in the center circle.
Eventually he freed himself and walked away, waving both hands, all alone in the chaos save for a lone passing cameraman who felt his own shot of money. How fitting that Messi ends up celebrating a World Cup the way he won it by walking around alone.
This was a Messi story in many ways. Messi scored six goals at Qatar 2022 and won the Golden Ball as the best player. He played with some of the greatest footballers in the world. He did all this at the age of 35 and half injured. That’s not normal. Eventually it will start pushing the boundaries of credibility.
He’s also part of the larger story of this $7 billion esports extravaganza. When Messi received the World Cup trophy, the Emir of Qatar, who is also his employer, presented him with a robe.
Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy. Photo: Carl Recine/PortalYou get what you pay for and Qatar has reached its perfect finale here. You have to admire the thoroughness, a blueprint that says we’re not just paying for the World Cup, but for the players who are most likely to end up on the podium: a Messi, a Mbappé, paid ambassadors from Qatar Sports Investments via dizzying contracts with Paris Saint-Germain. That’s the real deal: End-to-end fully encrypted sportswear. It’s an incredible willpower.
But there is also a paradox in Messi winning this controversial and physically brutal World Cup. There have always been two World Cups in Qatar 2022. First, the one Qatar built out of human waste, the one that held up the mirror not only to the depravity of great sport but also to a global labor market that fuels migrant workers in lucrative near- Captivity; a system Qatar did not create, it simply embodied with manic hypercompetence.
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Then there’s the other World Cup, the spectacle that brings joy and drama, and that sense of collectivism; and which elevated Messi’s brilliance to one of the great sports stories.
He was great throughout the game. The colors were perfect from the start. The deep French blue, the albiceleste of Argentina, the lime green grass, the cool white stadium lights. The first five minutes of every Messi performance has been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks. Messi spends those five minutes watching.
He did it here. He scans, takes a panorama, goes for a walk, scouts his opponents. And Messi’s walking isn’t really walking. it thinks Walking is his rapid eye movement, his disc spinning as he crunches the code. Messi runs three miles a game. He doesn’t do this to increase his levels.
And Argentina was more fluid than ever from the start, Ángel Di María providing another intersection on the left. It felt a bit strange. Messi was almost too involved. This is supposed to be the world championship of moments. Don’t waste it. Keep safe. Wait for it to bloom.
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Hurst pays tribute as Mbappé joins him in hat-trick club
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It was a record that had stood for 56 years and countless retellings – but Kylian Mbappé has finally ended Sir Geoff Hurst’s reign as the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final. The Paris Saint-Germain striker scored his first penalty for France from the penalty spot in the 79th minute, swept in a choppy through ball 97 seconds later and scored another penalty in extra time to take the game to a penalty shootout – where he took his Shot converted but still ended up on the losing side.
Two of Hurst’s goals in England’s 1966 win over West Germany came in added time, including his infamous second, which bounced off the crossbar and reportedly ricocheted over the line. Ally McCoist, ITV’s Scottish co-commentator on yesterday’s final in Qatar, said dryly that Mbappé’s performance made him “the first person to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final with all three across the line…”.
Sir Geoff, meanwhile, took to Twitter shortly after Mbappé sent off his third and tweeted: “Congratulations Mbappé whatever happens… I’ve had a great run!” David Hills
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Messi duly scored Di María’s opening goal from the penalty spot. The second for Argentina was a wonderful team goal. Messi had one hand at the start and produced a great 45 degree pass. Di María finished expertly, then just collapsed, drunk on the glory, the noise, the space, the light.
Didier Deschamps opened up his attack. France was a bit at stake. And so the twists began. Mbappé made it 2-1 in the 80th minute, then 2-2 with a wonderfully clean finish. In the VVIP boxes, Emmanuel Macron, the serious intellectual President of the Republic, hooted, jumped and honked like a startled goose.
Argentina was gone. The team, who seemed to be rushing towards glory like handsome schoolboys, looked exhausted, lost, wasted. Then Argentina came back and scored again through Messi before Mbappé equalized again from the penalty spot. Then came the penalties and the final moment of mercy.