FIFA World Cup: Argentina became world champion for the third time by defeating France

'FIFA World Cup: Argentina became world champion for the third time by defeating France'

In the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022 being played in Qatar, Argentina defeated the defending champion France 4-2 in the penalty shootout. Argentina converted all four of their penalties, while France managed only two. Despite a hat-trick by French star player Kylian Mbappe, Argentina managed to win the Football World Cup for the third time. Lionel Messi, playing his last World Cup, scored two goals.



In the title match played at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, the Argentine team remained aggressive from the beginning. Argentina's star player Lionel Messi gave his team the lead by scoring a penalty in the 23rd minute itself. Then in the 36th minute, Angel Di Maria doubled Argentina's lead over France. Thus the first half went in favor of Argentina.



Although France started showing speed in the second half, but despite many efforts, the team did not get success. Finally, in the 80th minute, France got their first penalty. Kylian Mbappe capitalized on the opportunity to pave the way for France's comeback into the match. In the very next minute, Embappé scored another goal to equalize the score at 2-2.



With both the teams tied 2-2 after the stipulated 90 minutes, the game went into extra time of 30 minutes. Messi's magic worked here too and he scored in the 109th minute to give Argentina the lead again. Then in the last minutes of extra time, Embappé once again converted the penalty into a goal to equalize 3-3. The decision then went to a penalty shootout, where Argentina won 4–2. With this, the first world title was added to Messi's name. Mary scored two goals in the match, while Kylian Mbappe scored all three goals for France.



Prime Minister Modi congratulated Argentina and Messi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Argentina on becoming the football world champions. He has said that Argentina performed brilliantly throughout the tournament. Argentina and Messi's millions of Indian fans are happy for their great victory. Along with this, he congratulated France for the spirited performance, saying that they have made football fans happy with their sportsmanship.

It is noteworthy that Argentina has ended the drought of 36 years by becoming the world champion for the third time. This Argentine team, captained by Messi, had earlier won the 1978 and 1986 titles. Apart from this, Argentina has also been the runner-up three times (1930, 1990, 2014). At the same time, this defeat broke France's dream of becoming world champion for the second time in a row. The French team also became champions in 1998 and 2018.