Messi completes perfect set as Argentina resist Mbappe's potential masterclass

Despite a record-breaking hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe, Argentina are the new world champions after a tumultuous World Cup final.

First of all, they had momentum. Then they threw it away. Then they picked it up. And then they threw it away again. At the end of an extraordinary World Cup final – surely the best since it could be broadcast live around the world 56 years ago – Argentina stumbled to win the World Cup. They are flawed but brilliant champions who didn't even seem to understand the mental blocks that are supposed to plague teams when they lose a lead in a high-pressure environment.

Lionel Messi got almost everything he wanted. Two goals and a champion's medal. He didn't quite sweep away after Kylian Mbappe scored just the second hat-trick in the history of a World Cup final, but he probably wouldn't trade his winners' medal for the ball game and a golden shoe.

Football can move in mysterious ways and few things will happen as mysteriously as this game, which constantly changed shape from the middle of the second half. Mbappe scored a hat-trick, but no winner's medal. Messi can now head into the sunset of the international tournament with the satisfaction of a full set, an itch he's been desperate to get rid of finally taken care of.

There was no welcome tape as the teams entered the pitch, but in almost every other sense it was a home game for Argentina. In most cases, La Marseillaise tears up the stadium she blasts herself into, but this time around it turned out to be more of a whimper. In the tunnel before the match, the television camera lingered briefly on Hugo Lloris, who appeared to be shaking slightly as the teams bided their time. Momentum was behind Argentina even before the kick-off whistle sounded.

READ MORE: 16 takeaways from the World Cup final: Messi's magnificence, Mbappe's majesty, Martinez's mind games

Even for all that, few would have expected such a bland display from France throughout the first half. There had been talk of a virus crossing their side over the past two days, but it was widely speculated that it was limited to Kingsley Coman, Ibrahima Konate and Raphael Varane, with the three players having already confirmed playing outside from the others, and Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot, who both missed their semi-final win over Morocco with.

And France played so surprisingly erratically for a team in such a big game that it's hard to believe this virus hasn't had some sort of effect beyond costing them a few players for their semi-finals and a few additional players remediation in the days leading up to the final itself. As Argentina buzzed and fluttered, France seemed both static and formless, careless in possession and lethargic when out of it.

It was this very negligence that cost them the penalty for Argentina's first goal, midway through the first half. Angel Di Maria had previously escaped a half-hearted challenge from Ousmane Dembele, but cutting inside, Dembele issued a challenge that looked like the worst of all worlds: never likely to get near the ball himself but to kick one of Di Maria's legs into the other for a penalty that took a replay or two to see, but was correctly awarded. Messi took care of unfinished business from the penalty spot.

Their defense for the second goal wasn't much better, but focusing on that would be unfair on the fluidity and foresight of Argentina's attacking momentum. Messi, to Alvarez, to MacAllister. So simple, so elegant and so wide, that the French defense was left completely off guard. Mac Allister's cross pass found Di Maria, who scored easily to put the game just about beyond France.

Or so it seemed. Didier Deschamps' response came, somewhat surprisingly, before half-time. With four minutes remaining, Dembele and Olivier Giroud were taken off to make way for Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram. Giroud had been reported as carrying an injury. Dembele had been abysmal to the point that France might have been better off had they started with 10 players.

France woke up a bit later - Muani seemed at least aware that there was quite an important football match ahead of him - but the half-time roar of the Argentinian fans inside the stadium was a total expectation. They had seen what they...