After playing France in a nail-biting final that came down to penalties in the last seconds of the tournament, Argentina won the 2022 World Cup.
The soccer tournament started on November 20, with 32 teams taking part. On December 18, the final game was between the last two teams, Argentina and France.
The tense final game went to penalties after France and Argentina tied 3-3 in extra time. In the end, Argentina won 4-2 on penalties.
France and Argentina have faced each other three times in the World Cup. The last time was in the round of 16 in Russia in 2018 when Didier Deschamps’ team won 4-3. Argentina won the first two times, in 1930 and 1978.
But today, Argentina was the star.
ARGENTINA HAVE DONE IT!!!!
LIONEL MESSI'S WORLD CUP DREAM COMES TRUE 🏆#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup pic.twitter.com/R3mB0Uk5mt
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 18, 2022
Argentina is the first country outside of Europe to win the World Cup since Brazil did so 20 years ago in Japan. Lionel Messi scored the game-winning goal, making Argentina the winner.
Soccer fans were on the edge of their seats until the very end of the final. France was down 2-0 at the start, but they came back in a spectacular way to win.
Lionel Messi. The most accomplished player of all time.
10 x La Liga titles
4 x Champions League titles
1 x Ligue One title
7 x Ballon d'Or
6 x European Golden Shoe
Copa America title
World Cup champion pic.twitter.com/Jjs0u6BFz8— MC (@CrewsMat10) December 18, 2022
Even though France didn’t win the trophy that night, they still have a lot to be proud of. Kylian Mbappe became only the second player after England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score three goals in a World Cup final.
France won the soccer tournament and finished first in Group B. They beat the teams Australia and Denmark but lost to Tunisia by a score of 1-0. They got back on track, though, and beat Poland 3-1 in the round of 16.
The French then played England in a tough quarterfinal game that ended with a score of 2-1. They then beat Morocco 2-0 in the semi-finals and played Argentina in the final.
The South American team also finished at the top of Group C, even though they started the tournament by losing 2-0 to Saudi Arabia.
But they beat Mexico and Poland, and then in the round of 16, they beat Australia 2-1. The team led by Lionel Messi then played the Netherlands in a tough quarterfinal match that they won 4-3 on penalties.
The team then beat Croatia quickly, 3-0, in the semi-finals and moved on to play France.
Even though both teams had great tournaments, the trophy went to Argentina because they beat France in the 90-minute match.
