FIFA World Cup, Match 64: Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick goes in vain as Argentina defeat France 4-2 in the penalty shootout

France locked horns with Argentina in the FIFA World Cup on 18 December 2022. It was the grand final of this tournament that took place in the Lusail Stadium. Defending champions, France were one win away to defend the title once again. They defeated spirited Morocco in the semi-final by 2-0.

On the other hand, Argentina knocked out Croatia after defeating them by a margin of 3-0 in the semi-final. Therefore, a great match was set to happen in this tournament as fans were keeping their eyes on players like Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. Both teams were looking to win this title for the third time in their respective history. 

Argentina defeated France 4-2 in the penalty shootout in the FIFA World Cup 2022

Speaking of the match, Argentina looked more controlled since the start of the game. They were attacking with more intensity than France. As a result, in the 17th minute, they had a chance to get a lead. But, Angel Di Maria’s effort went over the crossbar. But, in the 21st minute, Dembele came up with a clumsy challenge on Di Maria.

Hence, the referee awarded a penalty to Argentina and Messi did not do any mistake as he scored from the spot in the 23rd minute. It was Messi’s fourth penalty goal in this tournament. In the 36th minute, Di Maria scored the second goal of the match. It was a beautiful counter-attacking goal from the Rosarios while Mac Allister assisted him. Thus, the first half ended 2-0. In the second half, France were looking for an early goal to get back into the game. However, Argentina got a chance to score another goal in the 50th minute. Rodrigo De paul had a shot which Hugo Lloris saved with ease. Then, in the 59th minute, Julian Alvarez tried an effort from the edge of the box which Lloris saved again comfortably.   

But, in the 80th minute, Mbappe scored the first goal for France from the spot. Then, in the 81st minute, Mbappe made it 2-2 with a fantastic finish. Marcus Thuram came up with an assist. With that, it was the seventh goal from Kylian Mbappe in this tournament.  Finally, the game ended 2-2 after 90 minutes and the game went into extra time. Then, in the 108th minute, Messi scored the third goal. But, Mbappe completed his hattrick in the 118th minute from the spot, and the game ended 3-3. The game went into a penalty shootout. Argentina defeated France by 4-2 to win the World Cup.