The FIFA World Cup tournament is arguably the most popular sports event in the world, only occurring every four years.

The 2022 matchup had arguably two of the best teams in the world: France and Argentina. This World Cup has been dubbed “the best World Cup of all time” by fans, commentators, analysts, and other athletes.

The defending champions, France, played Argentina, who looked to win Lionel Messi’s last World Cup. Messi would be facing off with his teammate from Paris Saint Germain, Kylian Mbappe.

The game started off fairly quickly with Argentina receiving a penalty kick at 21 minutes. This resulted in an easy goal for Lionel Messi, making it his first of the match. Then, not much later, Argentinian striker Angel Di Maria scored off of an assist by teammate Alexis Mac Allister. Moving into halftime, many French fans were worried, as they were down 2 – 0 with almost nothing to show in 45 minutes of playtime.

Finally, at 80 minutes of playtime, France finally received a penalty kick and it was scored by French star forward Kylian Mbappe, who is considered one of the greatest players in the world. Without warning, Mbappe was already down the field again and scored another goal off of an assist from teammate Marcus Thuram.

Mbappe scored two goals within ninety seconds of each other, leveling the game and setting the score 2 – 2 at 81 minutes of play. With both teams unable to score again in full-time and extra time, the game went into extra time which grants two fifteen-minute periods.

Finally, at 108 minutes, Messi scored his second goal of the game, giving Argentina the lead with a score of 3 – 2.

France’s Mbappe then answered with third goal at 118 minutes, making him the second man to ever score a hat trick in a World Cup Finale. The score was then tied 3 – 3 with only a few minutes remaining.

In the 123rd minute of play, French forward Kolo Muani ran down the field and attempted a goal that would’ve won France the world cup in the final seconds, but it was blocked by the extended leg of Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Most fans think that if Martinez did not save that goal, Argentina would not have had a chance to win.

All time left in the game was gone, so the 2022 World Cup would become the third World Cup to have penalty kicks be the deciding factor of the game. Each team gets five chances to take a penalty shot, and the team with the most successful goals is the winner.

Two out of five of France’s players were able to make goals. Unfortunately for them, Argentina scored four out of five, crowning them the 2022 FIFA World Cup Champions. A devastating loss for the French, but a heartwarming victory for Argentina and Lionel Messi (highlights of the match).

Argentina fan and Wayne Hills Sophomore Lucas Russman had one simple sentence to say after the game. He said, “Argentina is the best in the world.”

It finally ended with Messi winning the Golden Ball for best player of the tournament, Martinez winning the Golden Glove for best goalie, and Kylian Mbappe winning the Golden Boot for the most goals in the tournament.

The celebrations were topped off when Messi made an Instagram post holding the World Cup trophy and celebrating. This post has now received over 70 million likes making it the most-liked post in Instagram history.

The FIFA World Cup will return in 2026, this time being held in various places throughout the United States and Mexico. Maybe then Kylian Mbappe will return for his third World Cup final in a row.