Argentina won their third FIFA World Cup as they stunned defending champions France 3-3 (4-2 in penalties) in one of the most thrilling encounters of the tournament.
La Albiceleste saw an entire course of events in the tournament from the ridiculous to the sublime as they went from being down with one of the worst upsets in the history of the World Cup (lost to Saudi Arabia 1-2 in the group stage) to their first World Cup since the late Maradona‘s heroics 36 years later in 2022.
We take a look at Argentina’s memorable run in the 22nd World Cup.
Argentina vs Saudi Arabia (1-2), Group C encounter – Argentina began their World Cup on a disastrous note despite Messi scoring the initial penalty as Saudi scored two quick goals to make it 2-1. Despite having the lion share of the ball possession, the Latin Americans failed to score again and suffered a huge upset.
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Argentina vs Mexico (2-0), Group stage – Playing a must-win encounter, Argentina stepped up their game as Messi picked up a goal along with another by Enzo Fernández. Messi’s men won and kept up hopes of a qualification chance.
Argentina vs Poland (2-0), Group stage – Argentina was in another must win situation as they took on the group leaders. A draw for Argentina and a win for Saudi would mean that Messi’s men would crash out of the World Cup. After a tight first half, despite Messi failing in his only penalty of the event, youngster Alvarez scored in his first match as the La Abliceleste won the group in a dramatic manner.
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Argentina vs Australia (2-1), Group stage – The match was another piece of pure mastery from Messi as he scored the match’s first goal. Despite being 2-0 up, Argentina wobbled at the end, conceded a goal and only a last minute brilliant save by Emilliano Martinez ensured that they punched their ticket to the last eight.
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Argentina vs Netherlands [2-2 (4-3)], quarter-final – Argentina rode high on Messi’s heroics again as the skipper set up one, scored another before Netherlands fought back in one of the greatest comebacks of the event. However, a tight penalty by Argentina with Martinez at his best ensured that they repeated their 2014 performance against the Dutch.
Argentina vs Croatia (3-0), semi-final – This was by and large an Argentine attacking show with both Messi and Alvarez coming up with some of their best performances of the event as they entered the finals after eight years.
Argentina vs France [(3-3 (4-2)], final – The match was by far the most exciting with Messi and Mbappe having single-handedly carried their teams thus far in the World Cup. That did not change as the duo made up for five of the six goals in the match.
With Argentina leading 2-0 after 80 minutes, it looked a done deal before the Les Bleus came up with a Les Dutch, as a brace by Mbappe evened the scores. After both Messi and Mbappe scored again in extra time, the La Albiceleste repeated their penalty heroics from the quarter-final as a brilliant Martinez helped Argentina life the coveted trophy for the first time in 36 years.
