Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup after an epic final - and then insisted he will not retire.
Argentina hero Messi, 35, scored twice and lifted the trophy which had eluded him in his remarkable career after one of the best games of all time. And after the greatest night of his career he said he will carry on playing for Argentina.
Messi said: “It’s simply unbelievable. I knew that God was going to give me the Cup, I was sure — it was a big joy for us.
“I had this big dream for a long time, I wanted to close my career with a World Cup. I can’t ask more than this.
“No, I’m NOT gonna retire from the national team. I want to keep playing as World Cup champions with the Argentina shirt.”
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Argentina went 2-0 up, but Kylian Mbappe led a thrilling France fightback as he scored twice to take the tie to extra time. Mbappe then completed his hat trick to take it to penalties and also win the Golden Boot but he still finished up on the losing side.
And manager Scaloni suggested after the game that Messi could still make it to one more World Cup - having previously admitted Qatar would almost certainly be his last international tournament.
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said: "We need to save him for the next World Cup – 2026. If Leo wants to keep playing, then he will be with us. He is more than entitled to decide what he wants to do with his career now.
"It’s such a huge pleasure to coach him and his team mates because everything he transmits to his teammates is incredible. He gives us so much.
“I am so proud. I am so happy to be World Cup winners. We should have won the match in 90 minutes, then extra time but we were fighters and we were very strong. We kept fighting because we wanted the win so much.
“These players play for the people, they play for the Argentina fans, they play for the whole country. The players broke their backs because they understood what they had to do on the pitch and we are very, very happy and proud.”
After winning their semi-final against Croatia, Messi was asked if the final would be his last international game and replied: "Yes. Surely yes. There’s a lot of years until the next one and I don’t think I have it in me and finishing like this is best.
"[I feel] a lot of happiness to be able to achieve this. To finish my World Cup career playing my last game in a final.
"Everything I’ve lived in this World Cup, what people experienced and how much the people back in Argentina are enjoying it all is very emotional."
