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It seems like only yesterday The end of Valencia In the year Qatar was sidelined for the 2022 World Cup curtain-raiser.

As the dust settles on a spectacular football game, fans are treated to one of the greatest World Cup tournaments in the history of the sport.

In reasonable fashion, Sunday’s final It exploded like a fireworks display to provide the final conclusion Qatar 2022.

This was the ultimate competition with superstar competition, penalty kicks, spectacular goals and goalkeeper masterclasses Lionel Messi Argentina are crowned world champions after beating France on penalties.

The pièce de résistance, a moment that will live long in the memory as a stunning masterpiece, is that image of Messi – towering over the shoulders of his teammates – with the World Cup trophy finally in hand.

This match was made to pay. Kylian Mbappe Messi – The 23-year-old French star is poised to take over the mantle of the world’s greatest player from his 35-year-old Paris Saint-Germain teammate.

Mbappe was defending France’s 2018 victory at the tournament in Russia. Messi He was playing in his final World Cup match, looking to claim the trophy that has eluded him for so long and match Diego Maradona’s feat in winning the 1986 tournament.

The opening 79 minutes were all about Messi. Argentina’s captain converted a free kick and Argentina took the lead. Next, the navigation touch was the key to the source of the directed activity. La Albiceleste second.

Then, at the end of normal time, Mbappe took control of the game alone, scoring two goals in two minutes to send the final into extra time.

Messi has a shot and Mbappé seems to be on his way.

Except for the Argentinian player who scored the second goal of the game and took the lead of the team in the 109th minute.

Unwilling to concede defeat, Mbappe roused his team-mates to score a second penalty to grab his hat-trick and convert the final penalty.

Both Mbappe and Messi scored from the spot but in the end – with France missing two penalties – it was the Argentina captain who was haunted by his team-mates as his World Cup dreams appeared in real time.

Over two hours of football, these were two players – at two different stages of their careers – playing the beautiful game in brilliant, glorious technicolor.

The last time the World Cup final was reached in the year In 2006, France were beaten again, this time by Italy.

Sometimes, ending a game with a shootout, a series of actions between the penalty kick and the goalkeeper feels unfair.

However, the pressure and tension seemed to have built up on Sunday’s penalty shootout at Lusail Stadium.

Messi’s penalty in the first half scored his first World Cup final goal and his penalty in the penalty shootout was brilliant.

Mbappé’s ability to switch positions successfully not once, but twice in a single game, has been shown to be very impressive.

Previously at Qatar 2022, one team had already experienced the intensity of that pressure cooker atmosphere and emerged on the other side, and one that had not.

Argentina’s quarter-final win over the Netherlands ended in a penalty shoot-out, with the South American side using distraction and delay tactics to mentally overwhelm their opponents.

In Sunday’s final, Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez showed his ability to distract the French players and saved the ball from Aurelien Chaumeny. France’s previous attempt – from Kingsley Coman – was saved by Martinez.

The penalty shootout is unlike any other in sport – it’s a modern-day duel and a World Cup final that has plenty of problems other than heightening the tension and drama.

World Cup finals are often tight and brutal affairs, with goals at a premium.

Argentina and France threw out that playbook – scoring six goals, two of which were of high quality.

Arguably Argentina’s second best was Carlos Alberto’s stunning goal in Brazil’s 4-1 win over Italy in the 1970 World Cup final.

It was in the 35th minute that Alexis McAllister’s cross to Messi put pressure on Argentina’s defenders as they pushed for an equaliser.

Argentina scored after Messi linked up with Julian Alvarez and the Manchester City forward fed a well-weighted ball to the onrushing Mack Allister.

Unselfishly, McAllister had the presence of mind to point the ball to Angel Di Maria for a brilliant counter-attacking effort to give Argentina a 2-0 win.

At that point, it looked like Argentina’s crowning glory until Mbappe stepped up.

After the penalty had reduced the score to 2-1, a fine one-two with Marcus Thuram saw the ball drop from the sky to the PSG star on the edge of the Argentine penalty area.

In what seems to be almost always the world, Mbappe produced a stunning display of technique and timing to thunder the ball past a desperate Martinez.

These are the seasons that captivate the imagination and come to decide the finals of the 2022 World Cup.

It will be remembered for many reasons – Messi’s historic moment, Mbappe’s hat-trick in defeat, the spectacle of the game swinging from end to end and never ceasing to tug at the Gobsma crowd.

Of course, there is a lot of competition to be the ‘Best World Cup Final’.

In the year In 1950, Uruguay upset Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, four years later, West Germany defeated Hungary’s magical Magyars to make the country its first World Cup champion.

Geoff Hurst scored his first World Cup final hat-trick in the 1966 final between England and West Ham. Hurst’s second goal is being called after 56 years – did the ball cross the line? According to match officials, England won 4-2.

In the year In the 1970 final, Pele’s victory over Italy made it his last World Cup appearance as he won the trophy for the third time.

Four years later in Munich, hosts West Germany came from behind to beat a star-studded Dutch side – featuring Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens – in their second World Cup title 2-1.

Like Messi in Qatar 2022, Diego Maradona single-handedly lifted his team to a 3-2 win over West Germany in the final to lift his team to their second title in eight years.

In the year In 1998, France hosted and won their first World Cup, notably under the genius of Zinedine Zidane, who scored twice in the final, against a fearsome Brazil team composed of Brazil, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu, Bebeto and Roberto Carlos.

However, with its multi-story lines and drama and artistry on display, the 2022 show is now titled ‘The Greatest World Cup Final’.