France and Argentina are tied 2-2 as the 2022 FIFA World Cup goes into extra time. Both teams are still striving for the glory of a third World Cup trophy.
The game kicked off at 16:00 CET. The best teams in Europe and South America are looking for victory in the last game of the month-long tournament.
Argentina’s talismanic captain Lionel Messi scored the first goal, a penalty, in the 23rd minute, while his teammate Angel Di Maria threw the ball into the back of the net to score Argentina’s second goal in the 36th minute.
France looked sluggish at times and were overwhelmed by Argentina’s more aggressive playing style. However, Les Bleus came to life in the last ten minutes of regular play when Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty spot in the 80th minute and scored his second goal of the game just a minute later.
If neither team scores in injury time, the game goes into extra time.
France is the reigning champions and is supported by thousands of fans in the final, including Superfan President Emmanuel Macron, who has already flown to Qatar once to watch the Bleus win their semi-final against Morocco.
“I support the French team and I think so do the French,” Macron said this week.
Paris and several other major French cities have decided not to broadcast World Cup matches on huge screens in public fan zones as they are concerned about Qatar’s human rights record. Macron, however, is meeting with Qatari officials during his trip.
On the pitch, French coach Didier Deschamps knows that most neutral fans want Argentina to win the World Cup final to give Lionel Messi the perfect farewell to the biggest soccer tournament.
In fact, Deschamps even believes that some people in France are hoping that this will happen too.
“I’m fine being alone in the world — it doesn’t bother me,” he said with a smile.
It feels like Deschamps and his French team were struggling with this throughout the tournament.
The World Cup began for France with a spate of injuries. Karim Benzema, Christopher Nkunku and Presnel Kimpembe were excluded to be on the sidelines alongside Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante.
It ends with France’s team being further weakened by a virus, which resulted in defender Dayot Upamecano and midfielder Adrien Rabiot missing out on a win over Morocco in the semi-finals.
Three other players — centre-backs Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konaté and winger Kingsley Coman — were absent from training on Friday, but they were there on Saturday when all 24 members of the squad attended the team’s final training before the final on Sunday.
Argentina’s ardent fans
Argentines woke up on Sunday and were ready to watch the national team play in Qatar for the third World Cup title, the first since 1986, amid a sense of unity and joy that is rare for a country that has been stuck in an economic crisis for years.
“People feel very intense happiness all the time. Cars drive around with the flag. The whole city bears the flag,” said Guillermo Ortiz, 52 years old, who lives in Buenos Aires.
“The crazy thing is that we all agree and say we want the best, which generally doesn’t happen in this country. It’s like soccer drawing a circle and putting us all in the shoes.”
Argentina last reached the World Cup final in 2014 when they lost to Germany, but the excitement and excitement for this game is far higher than the match in Brazil eight years ago.
Argentina has arguably the most ardent fans of the World Cup, known for their rhythmic singing, incessant drumming, and trance-like ferocity.
The country’s success story in the World Cup — champion in 1978 and 1986 and runner-up three times — is only surpassed by a few. That fervor will only increase when Lionel Messi leads Argentina against defending champions France in Sunday’s final in Qatar.
You can’t help but feel that Messi’s fate is to emulate soccer star Diego Maradona and lead Argentina to the World Cup title.
The 35-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker was in excellent form in Qatar. He scored five goals on his way to the final and provided some magical templates for his teammates. Maradona, who died in 2020, also scored five times in 1986 and was an iconic figure for his team and his country.
Messi does not dominate games over 90 minutes as he did in his peak years.
Instead, he makes decisions with brilliant moments that demonstrate the talents that have led many to call him the best soccer player in history. He lived up to his country’s expectations throughout his career, but never really met it at a World Cup.
He may have had his best times, but he had more influence in this tournament than in any of his previous four World Cups.
Argentine fans seem convinced that they will win the trophy for the third time and that they have more than just Messi on their side. “Maradona,” they sing, “cheers Lionel on” from heaven.