have you ever seen your team go against a player who absolutely put the fear of God in you surely Argentinian fans have on the 18th of December 2022 the lives of Argentinian football fans never remained the same because they got the thing they wanted the most but they went through the craziest emotional roller coaster before they got to the promised land this was the day that Killian mppe made an entire country shiver [Music] you see the 2022 World Cup final was extra significant for many reasons many fans of lonel Messi and Argentinian football in general
saw this as the very last dance Messi was already 35 he was not going to have a better chance to win the World Cup again the one trophy that was missing from his cabinet messy and his men had started their Journey on the wrongest foot shockingly losing to Underdog Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the tournament but they managed to turn things around winning their last two group games to top their group and make it to the knockout stages The Knockouts weren't easy they were really tested by Australia in the round of 16 and
then in the quarterfinals they were involved in what was perhaps the most violent match in World Cup history which eventually had to be settled on penalties but then they cruised past Croatia in the semis to book a place in the final for the first time since 2014 you see apart from the fact that it was likely Messi's last final there was also some pressure on Argentina because they had not won the World Cup in 36 years and they also had a pretty bad record in finals having lost all of the last four finals they had
played before 2021 but then they managed to break the duck in 2021 winning their first major trophy in 28 years and they quickly followed it up with the finalis so going into that final they had some hope but that hope was perhaps a little deflated when they found out that they would be going up against France now apart from the fact that France were the reigning world champions Argentina personally did not have a good experience with them on their way to becoming world champions in 2018 France trampled over Argentina these two football Giants met in
the round of 16 and a teenage mbappe absolutely ran Riot on the south Americans he scored two goals and won a penalty and was very easily the man of the match four years later Argentina find out that they'll be facing France with a better and now more experienced mbappe in the biggest game of their lives of course they'll be frightened but then they had the goat on their side so they went into the game brimming with a lot of Hope and positivity and things got off to the best possible start they could think of Argentina
were on top from the very beginning peppering Yugo loris's goal with shot after shot and then in the 23rd minute Argentina were awarded a penalty for a pretty soft foul from demele on Di Maria Messi stepped up and converted 1 nil Argentina but there's really no Argentina final party if Di Maria hasn't scored he scored in the Olympics final in 2008 the Copa America Final in 2021 and now in 2022 he stepped up for his customary final goal in the 36th minute it was a brilliant sequence of play from Argentina and the former PSG man
arrived at the perfect time to get to the end of a beautiful maalis pass and send the ball past Loris 2-n already in the first half Argentina were in Dreamland they expected this game to be one of the toughest games of their entire lives but it was turning out to be a walk in the park for them at halime not only were they two- nil up they were in total control of the entire game they had more possession and had nullified the Europeans completely France did not manage to create a single big chance or even
attempt to shot throughout the first half things were so bad in the France camp that DDA desan was forced to make two changes even before halftime he took off Olivia jiru and Usman demele and replaced them with Marcus thuram and Randal Kum wani he hoped those changes would help him turn the game around but when they came out for the second half things practically remained the same Argentina continued to Pepper France's goal while simultaneously shutting them down defensively Loris was called upon to make saves from shots from deple and Alvarez early in the second half
while France still could not hit the target at this point the defending Champions were getting frustrated and it started to show they started to dive into tackles and commit unnecessary fouls this led to Adrien rabiot being shown a yellow card just 10 minutes into the second period but still nothing changed at this point with a two-goal lead Argentinian fans started to feel like they could touch the trophy the coach even started to think about managing the lead so he took off Di Maria in the 64th minute and brought in maros Akuna a Defender it was
obvious what he wanted to do at this point shut down everywhere and protect the lead but that soon turned out to be a very bad decision anyway France also made changes taking off Griezmann and Theo Hernandez to bring on kman and kaminga in the 71st minute that still didn't have a quick effect on the game Argentina continued to dominate they were on cruise mode until they were hit with their first turbulence of the night in the 79th minute mbappe sent a ball through to colani who got in a duel with Nicholas otamendi the Frenchman appeared
to have outmuscled the Argentine Center back and then otamendi brought him down in the Box penalty who stepped up of course it was Killian mbappe he and his teammates had not managed a single shot on target all game but with just 10 minutes left on the clock they were offered a shot at Redemption but then mbappe was up against a penalty specialist in any Martinez so it was not going to be easy well indeed it wasn't easy because Martinez went the right way and even got a hand to the ball but the shot from mbappe
was so fast and so powerful that it found its way into the back of the net 80 minutes on the clock 2 1 game on now the argentinians were a little shaken they had managed to lock France up for the vast majority of the game but otamendi lost his head for a quick second and with just their first shot on target of the entire game Les blur were back Argentinian fans started to bite their nails but they had shown defensive solidity in the past so surely they could hold their slender lead for 10 minutes right
wrong they could not even hold the lead for one minute the very next minute after France's goal Messi was robbed in the middle of the pitch by comman and he started a French attack which ended up with a cute little give and go between mbappe and tham and boom mbappe had produced one of the best goals we've seen in a World Cup final he voled the ball Beyond Martinez and dragged France back into the game Peter Drury called him an awesome force of nature a bee oh wow he is an awesome force of Nature and
I just couldn't agree more surely at this point Argentinian fans started to have so many flashbacks 2018 when mbappe scored twice and sent them packing or 2014 when they were in control for so long in the final against Germany but ended up losing it at the very end take your pick there was not one fan of lonel Messi all Argentinian football in the world who wasn't shivering at that moment yes mbappe had been quite for much of the game but when he chose to rise he was the scariest thing ever after his 81st minute equalizer
the entire nation of Argentina trembled each time mbath touched the ball they were begging for extra time they had been on top the entire game and it would be a nightmare if they lost it all in the last 10 minutes and they very nearly thought they did when thuram went down in the Box argentinians had hearts in mouths at that moment but the referee had a good view of it and blew a free kick for Argentina showing thoram a yellow card for diving but mbappe didn't stop he kept dribbling shooting Crossing driving in trying to
make something happen to win France the game in normal time but Argentina managed to stand strong Messi on the other end came close to snatching it for Argentina with a shot from outside the box but Loris was able to make a brilliant save so the game went to extra time just like it did the last time Argentina were in the World Cup final to be on top for 80 minutes and then go on to lose your two-goal lead in just one minute was really devastating Argentinian fans still tried to keep hope alive but it was
obvious that they were now more scared than positive but in extra time things returned to normal Argentina were back to dictating the Temple of the game they created two big chances but both of them were squandered by lataro Martinez who had come in in the 103rd minute for Julian Alvarez anyway no goal was scored in the first half of extra time but that was simply because they were saving the goals for the second period just 3 minutes after the resumption of the second half of extra time Argentina's Captain led by example once again Laro Martinez's
shot on target was spilled by Loris and Messi was perfectly placed to pounce kundai tried to clear the ball from off the line but he was too late the ball had already crossed the line Argentina were back in the lead surely they were going to protect their lead this time around and go on to win the trophy an extra time right wrong again just 8 minutes after Argentina went ahead they conceded yet another penalty mbappe got at the end of a cross from a Coman corner and he attempted a shot on that shot was blocked
by Gonzalo Montiel but he used his arm so a penalty was awarded to France 2 minutes to the end of extra time mbappe stepped up again could he score two penalties against the specialist Emy Martinez you bet he could this time he sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to complete his hat-trick this was the first time a player had scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final since 1966 mbappe had got into the history books and he wanted to complete his job by bringing the trophy home as well so he kept going he sent in
across to colani but the striker missed the header by a hair's breath he also tried to dribble in from the left like he always does and he very nearly got a clear sight of goal after going past three Argentinian players but Enzo Fernandez was there to produce a very crucial interception and Palo deala came and cleared the ball as far away as he could at this point Argentina was sick of the sight of mbappe anytime he had the ball the entire country had Shivers run down their spine but before then there was that moment kumani
had the entire world at his feet and the fate of millions in his palms when he found himself through on goal and one-on-one with Annie Martinez it looked like there could only be one outcome the French substitutes were already on the pitch ready to celebrate their back-to-back World Cup win which was going to be confirmed when coo moani put the ball in the back of the net but somehow unbelievably inexplicably UNF ably Annie Martinez pulled off one of the greatest saves we have ever seen in a World Cup game everyone who saw that knew they
were watching history many French fans were asking why K muani did not pass to mbappe but argentinians were happy he didn't anyway that was it these two teams were inseparable in 120 minutes so the game went to penalties and guess who stepped up first for France yes that same guy Killian mbappe could he really put three penalties past any Martinez in the same game you bet he could he beat Martinez from the spot three times in one game not many players can boast of this anyway Messi also stepped up first for Argentina and he converted
his penalty as well but Coman and cheleni missed while Argentina remained perfect and that was how they became world champions for the first time in 36 years Argentina champions of the world they had to work for this particular trophy artina managed to come out as winners but Kylie and mbappe made an entire nation shiver from minute 80 to minute 120 what a day that was guys is that the greatest final in the history of the World Cup what do you think but surely one of the most significant World Cup games in football history is the
one which forced FIFA to introduce a new technology into football you want to know what really happened in that game go check out this video