Argentina vs France

The 2022 FIFA World Cup final was like a movie - so exciting that nobody could believe it was real! It happened on December 18, 2022, in Qatar, a small country in the Middle East. This was the first time the World Cup was played in winter instead of summer because Qatar is super hot in the summer.

The Two Great Teams

On one side was Argentina, wearing their famous blue and white striped shirts. Their captain was Lionel Messi, one of the best soccer players ever. Messi was 35 years old, and this was probably his last chance to win the World Cup - the one trophy he had never won before.

On the other side was France, wearing their blue jerseys. They were the defending champions, which means they won the World Cup in 2018. Their star player was Kylian Mbappé, who was only 23 years old and super fast!

The First Half - Argentina Takes Control

When the game started, Argentina played much better than France. The French players looked tired and slow. In the 23rd minute, something exciting happened! France committed a foul in the penalty box, and the referee gave Argentina a penalty kick. Messi stepped up and scored! Argentina was winning 1-0!

Thirteen minutes later, Argentina scored again! This time it was a beautiful team goal. The ball went from player to player, and finally, Angel Di Maria kicked it into the net. It was 2-0! All the Argentina fans were going crazy with joy. France looked really bad, and everyone thought Argentina would win easily.

The Second Half - France Wakes Up!

For most of the second half, Argentina kept playing well. With only ten minutes left, it looked like the game was over. But then, something incredible happened!

In the 80th minute, Mbappé scored for France from a penalty kick. It was now 2-1! Just one minute later, Mbappé scored AGAIN with a beautiful shot! The game was now 2-2! Nobody could believe it! France came back from the dead!

The stadium went absolutely wild. The game went to extra time - two more 15-minute periods.

Extra Time - More Drama!

In extra time, both teams were so tired but kept fighting. In the 108th minute, Messi scored again for Argentina! It was 3-2! Argentina fans thought they had finally won.

But Mbappé wasn't done yet! In the 118th minute, France got another penalty, and Mbappé scored his third goal! This is called a hat-trick, and it's very rare in a World Cup final. The score was 3-3!

Penalty Shootout - The Most Nervous Moment

After 120 minutes of play, they had to decide the winner with penalty kicks. Five players from each team would take turns trying to score. This is always super scary because the whole World Cup comes down to just a few kicks.

Argentina went first. They scored all four of their penalties perfectly! France missed two of theirs. When Gonzalo Montiel kicked the last penalty for Argentina and scored, the game was over!

Argentina won 4-2 in the penalty shootout!

The Celebration

Messi fell to his knees and cried. His teammates ran to hug him. After trying so hard for so many years, he finally won the World Cup! All of Argentina - the whole country - celebrated like never before.

Mbappé was very sad, even though he scored three goals and played amazingly. He won the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals in the whole tournament (8 goals).

Messi won the Golden Ball award for being the best player of the World Cup.

Why This Game Was So Special

This final was special for many reasons. It had six goals, which is a lot for a final. It had incredible comebacks - France came back from 2-0 down, then Argentina came back after France tied it again. Two of the world's best players - Messi and Mbappé - played their hearts out.

Most importantly, Messi finally achieved his dream. Many people say he is the greatest player of all time, and now he has the one trophy that was missing.

This game will be remembered forever as one of the best soccer matches ever played. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful World Cup!

Final Score: Argentina 3-3 France (Argentina won 4-2 on penalties)