By Okon Ekpenyong

After a brilliant performance, France midfielder Kylian Mbappe won the hearts of billions worldwide despite their 4-2 defeat in the penalty kicks against Argentina, who are winning the World Cup title for the third time. 

France and Argentina played a sensational final in the 22nd World Cup. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club teammates Lionel Messi of Argentina and Kylian Mbappé of France are two of the most recognizable faces in football/soccer. Man, they were fun to watch in this year’s tournament and gave us a show in the final.

The fact that these two teams met in the final is no coincidence since both squads have high-powered offenses with multiple strikers.

Yes, that’s right, it is not a coincidence because the top four scorers in this world cup played in the final. Lionel Messi of Argentina and Kylian Mbappe of France have five goals. Julián Álvarez of Argentina and Olivier Giroud of France, who became the team’s “all-time” record goal scorer, have four goals.

France Striker Olivier Giroud, who had four goals in this year’s tournament, was substituted just before half-time and wasn’t a happier camper. The striker became France’s all-time scorer after scoring in the round of 16 to help the team advance to the Quarterfinal. After leaving the game, Giroud threw his water bottle and shirt to the floor in frustration. 

When France’s Mbappe scored a World Cup final hat-trick to even the score at three a piece, it made the game more exciting and competitive.

It was France’s fourth world cup appearance, winning in 1998 & 2018 but losing in the 2006 and 2022 finals.

There was a 35% probability of Argentina winning and 34% of France winning; some experts predict that the match will mostly go into overtime. There also was a possibility that today’s final would top the 1.2 billion viewers who watched the 2018 title game when France defeated Croatia 4-2.  

It was Argentina’s sixth World Cup final appearance, losing in 1930, 1990, and 2014 but winning in 1970, 1986, and 2022. Messi’s first World Cup appearance in 2014 ended in a loss to Germany, but he was not going home empty-handed this time around. Argentina’s first goal came off a penalty kick by Messi at the 23-minute mark. In an unselfish act, he squares the ball to Di Maria after flicking the ball past his defender and picking out Mac Allister’s run. Argentina would eventually capitalize on that play making it 2-0.

Despite dominating all its opponents throughout the tournament, France did not take a single shot during the first half of this world cup final.

Eventually, France’s coaching staff made some changes by sending Giroud to the bench and bringing in Thuram; Koko Munai also came in for Dembele just before the half.

At the 71-minute mark, France made two more changes. They substituted Midfielder Greizmann to bring in Striker Coman to generate some scoring drive. And Midfielder Camavinga also came in for Defender Hernandez. Things will soon open up for France when Argentina’s Otamedi fooled France’s Koko by dragging him down in the box around the 79th-minute mark. A penalty kick by Mbappe made it 2-1. After scoring the first goal, Mbappe scored again within 90 seconds to tie the match at 2-2.

Extra time was when things started to get exciting, and both teams continued substituting to help bring in fresh legs. The way Argentina started this match shows that they were not going to back down from anyone. In terms of statistics, they drove closer to the target than France. Argentina didn’t start substituting players until 64 minutes into the game, so all starters were playing well.

Messi scored first in Extra time at the 108th-minute mark, but a fool in the box led Mbappe to continue his legacy by tying up the match 3-3 at 118′.

In the penalty shootout, Argentina did not miss its four shots. On the other hand, France would go on to miss two in a roll after Mbappe capitalized on the first shoot. France still had a chance, but its goalie Hugo Lloris could not block any penalty kick, and that was the match.

Argentina has won more penalty shootouts than any other nation in world cup history, and they were only the third Nation to win a world cup shootout after Brazil in 1994 and Italy in 2006.

France had yet to kick a penalty in this tournament, proving that forcing a record 420 turnovers would help create scoring opportunities. However, Kylian Mbappé, the golden boat winner, scored two penalty shootouts during regulation times, plus a hat-trick in the World Cup final to even the score.

Some experts predicted France to win it all. But for that to happen, finding ways to slow down Messi, who has been exceptional since the start of the tournament, was the key. “The French attackers are tall and robust compared to the average Argentines,” a footballer fan said. Messi creates opportunities for other players to strike when not scoring, and he’s the king of making penalty shots, which means the team can count on him in those moments. So, unfortunately for France, they could not slow Messi down, “the goat,” who finished with three goals.

Messi has won all the individual awards you can think of; the man is a scoring machine, especially while playing for Barcelona. “In this WC, Messi has been at the zenith. It started with Copa America, then at Finalisma vs. Italy. He was unplayable in that game. Against Croatia, he replicated that performance. The Croatians, though crestfallen, have accepted that they fell victim to superior skill. There’s not a thing they could do to prevent Messi and this Argentina team. Gvardiol is their best defender, and Messi, 15 years older, did that to him. Just wow,” Tim Sirkoi said.

Another fan stated, “France was a perfect match for Messi and Argentina squad.” These historical clubs have always shined on the international stage, so whether one wins the entire tournament or not, they will always find ways to create iconic moments.

France

France won its 2nd title in 2018, and the team was returning to the final to rewrite History, which marks just the 2nd time a European country did so, and that was Germany in 1990. Brazil was the last team to play in back-back finals losing in 1998 to the first-time winner France but would return in 2002 to win it all. France, on the other hand, failed to advance in group play that year. They would return to the finals in 2006 but lost to Italy, who would go on to capture its fourth title. Brazil was the last reigning champions to repeat, but that was back in 1958 & 1962.

A hat trick by Kylian Mbappe made him the second player since Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat trick during a World Cup final. The four goals he scored today proved Mbappe’s ability to carry this team since the tournament began. A third title almost became a reality for him by doing everything the coaching staff, his fans, and his country had asked. And the midfielder finishing the day with four goals was the most by any player in a title match.

Awards

Lionel Messi won his second Golden Ball award for the best player in the tournament; his first was in 2014. Mbappw took home the golden boot for scoring eight goals; Messi, on the other hand, finished with seven. The Young Player Award went to Argentina midfielder Eno Fernandez, and Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez took home the golden glove. He saved two spot kicks in the match against the Netherlands and one against France. “There could not have been a World Cup I have dreamed of like this. I was calm during the penalties,” Martinez said.

Morocco

There have been five African nations who made a significant impact at the world cup before this year’s tournament: Algeria in 1982 (lost round of 16), Nigeria in 1994 (round of 16), Ghana in 2020 (lost in the Quarterfinal), Senegal in 2002 (lost in the Quarterfinal), and Cameroon in 1990 (lost in the Quarterfinal).

“It takes a lot of planning and stability, which Africa lacks. Otherwise, we will be winning the World Cup every four years”, a fan said. However, Morocco joined the elite group, making us believe it was possible. They were this year’s surprising team, and despite losing to France, they are the first African Nation to not only play in the semifinals but played for third place. Despite the success of the team, the issue with Morocco is that during this tournament, they hardly scored goals.

The team came into their matchup with France with four clean sheets, not allowing any opponent to score. Goalie Yassine Bounoub of Morocco has been nothing but exceptional in this tournament. Unfortunately, facing France, the hottest team in this year’s WC, meant everyone had to step up their defense because defending Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud would be challenging.

“Morocco needed a fast dribbler who could repeatedly attempt to break into that France directly, which would have collapsed the defense and freed up other scorers instead of just making wing crosses. I don’t think they have that kind of player unless maybe Hakim Zayesh can try to do that,” Remi Ray said.

“Before the Franch match, no opposition team had scored against Morocco so far at the 2022 World Cup, with their only goal conceded coming via an own goal against Canada”. “They’ve kept four clean sheets so far at this tournament, with the last two sides to record five in a single edition going on to lift the trophy (Spain 2010, Italy 2006)”.

“This defeat ended a six-game unbeaten run at the World Cup for Morocco (W3 D3) and was their first loss at the finals since a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in the group stage in 2018,” sportswriter Kla Wesley Jr said.

France has never lost to two African nations back-back at the same World Cup despite falling to Tunisia in this year’s group play. Including Wednesday’s match, France has won all its previous five meetings against Morocco. The last time both teams played was in November 2007, a 2-2 draw.

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