16 Conclusions on the World Cup final: Messi's magnificence, Mbappe's majesty, Martinez's mind games
The 2022 World Cup final was spectacular. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe exceeded the hype, Angel Di Maria shone and Argentina finally overthrew France.
1) What a fucking game.
2) The champ. The Golden Boot with six goals. One goalscorer in each knockout game. The winner of the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.
"We went to the Youth World Cup in 2005 and came back talking about a player who would be better than Maradona. He had just turned 18", Carlos Mac Allister, father of the midfielder world champion Alexis and among the billions to have realized at some point that "Messi is the best of all time", told The Guardian in a recent interview.
It was 17 years ago in the Netherlands when Lionel Messi began to properly draw those comparisons that would define and frame his magnificent career. "His heartbreaking form in Holland was arguably the most individually influential since 'Dieguito' left fans breathless in Japan 1979," reads the official FIFA line, frozen in time as some sort of genesis sanctuary of unimaginable brilliance. /p>
Messi always seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of Diego Maradona. But the heartbreak of 2014 made fate futile. Only one of the two stalwarts of the Albiceleste would be able to lead his country to World Cup glory. Only one of the two Albiceleste giants would be able to put an end to decades of suffering and disappointment. Only one of the two icons of La Albiceleste would complete its predestined journey to immortality without any compromise.
A teenage Messi established himself as a budding genius with goals against Egypt, Colombia, Spain and Brazil in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. He went on to score twice in final to beat Nigeria, cap three weeks of dominance and equal Maradona's tally in the same competition 26 years earlier.
The champ. The scorer of six goals – but without a Golden Boot – including one in each knockout game. The winner of the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. Almost two decades after winning his first trophy representing Argentina, Messi has retired with his last.
Not much has changed. Time is a flat circle and time will remember Messi as the absolute greatest to ever do so.
3) Kylian Mbappe made compelling counter-arguments. When matches of such magnitude are reduced to a contest between two sublime players who otherwise are unlikely to share the same 30-yard radius at all times, the result is invariably disappointing. It's a crude, laborious and unimaginative trope that disrespects the tens of hundreds of people involved, from other team members to managers, coaches and other staff who work in preparation, scouting and training. . The World Cup Final doesn't have to be gendered with a forced "versus" storyline.
But Messi and Mbappe have at least held up their end of this laughable bargain. The latter raged against the narrative machine with a record hat-trick, becoming the all-time top scorer in a World Cup final, passing eight players in the tournament's overall goalscoring list to sit behind just five others at 23 years old, and emphasizing its excellence. like a master of moments. He barely registered as a footer in the first 79 minutes of that match and then dominated the remaining 40 minutes. It was a breathtaking challenge to bring France individually back to the brink of history.
Mbappe did everything he could. The technical prowess of his second goal was matched by the inconceivable courage required to convert a decisive penalty with 10 minutes remaining at 2-0, an equalizing kick in the most pressurized situation imaginable at 3-2 in the World Cup . final in the 28th minute of extra time, then to score again from 12 yards at the start of the following shootout. Even losing, it was one of the most extraordinary performances in the history of the sport, given the context.
4) The game itself was the absolute best example of this footballing unicorn: a game capable of drawing in the neutral so deeply that it is absorbed into the fabric of it all; a competition so captivating that, even watching without a horse in the race, it is impossible not to get lost in the moment.
There was no need to force a bias or choose a favorite. It's something to find yourself ready to tag a team before suddenly switching fluid allegiances as...
The 2022 World Cup final was spectacular. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe exceeded the hype, Angel Di Maria shone and Argentina finally overthrew France.
1) What a fucking game.
2) The champ. The Golden Boot with six goals. One goalscorer in each knockout game. The winner of the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.
"We went to the Youth World Cup in 2005 and came back talking about a player who would be better than Maradona. He had just turned 18", Carlos Mac Allister, father of the midfielder world champion Alexis and among the billions to have realized at some point that "Messi is the best of all time", told The Guardian in a recent interview.
It was 17 years ago in the Netherlands when Lionel Messi began to properly draw those comparisons that would define and frame his magnificent career. "His heartbreaking form in Holland was arguably the most individually influential since 'Dieguito' left fans breathless in Japan 1979," reads the official FIFA line, frozen in time as some sort of genesis sanctuary of unimaginable brilliance. /p>
Messi always seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of Diego Maradona. But the heartbreak of 2014 made fate futile. Only one of the two stalwarts of the Albiceleste would be able to lead his country to World Cup glory. Only one of the two Albiceleste giants would be able to put an end to decades of suffering and disappointment. Only one of the two icons of La Albiceleste would complete its predestined journey to immortality without any compromise.
A teenage Messi established himself as a budding genius with goals against Egypt, Colombia, Spain and Brazil in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. He went on to score twice in final to beat Nigeria, cap three weeks of dominance and equal Maradona's tally in the same competition 26 years earlier.
The champ. The scorer of six goals – but without a Golden Boot – including one in each knockout game. The winner of the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. Almost two decades after winning his first trophy representing Argentina, Messi has retired with his last.
Not much has changed. Time is a flat circle and time will remember Messi as the absolute greatest to ever do so.
3) Kylian Mbappe made compelling counter-arguments. When matches of such magnitude are reduced to a contest between two sublime players who otherwise are unlikely to share the same 30-yard radius at all times, the result is invariably disappointing. It's a crude, laborious and unimaginative trope that disrespects the tens of hundreds of people involved, from other team members to managers, coaches and other staff who work in preparation, scouting and training. . The World Cup Final doesn't have to be gendered with a forced "versus" storyline.
But Messi and Mbappe have at least held up their end of this laughable bargain. The latter raged against the narrative machine with a record hat-trick, becoming the all-time top scorer in a World Cup final, passing eight players in the tournament's overall goalscoring list to sit behind just five others at 23 years old, and emphasizing its excellence. like a master of moments. He barely registered as a footer in the first 79 minutes of that match and then dominated the remaining 40 minutes. It was a breathtaking challenge to bring France individually back to the brink of history.
Mbappe did everything he could. The technical prowess of his second goal was matched by the inconceivable courage required to convert a decisive penalty with 10 minutes remaining at 2-0, an equalizing kick in the most pressurized situation imaginable at 3-2 in the World Cup . final in the 28th minute of extra time, then to score again from 12 yards at the start of the following shootout. Even losing, it was one of the most extraordinary performances in the history of the sport, given the context.
4) The game itself was the absolute best example of this footballing unicorn: a game capable of drawing in the neutral so deeply that it is absorbed into the fabric of it all; a competition so captivating that, even watching without a horse in the race, it is impossible not to get lost in the moment.
There was no need to force a bias or choose a favorite. It's something to find yourself ready to tag a team before suddenly switching fluid allegiances as...
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