Lionel Messi, who for 120 minutes and change Sunday in Qatar looked superhuman, celebrated his first World Cup title in the most human of ways.
In the moments following Argentina’s stratospheric 3–3 (4–2) win over France in the World Cup final, the legendary forward was filmed embracing his tearful mother, who ran him down amid a throng of administrators and jubilant Argentine players
The Rosario native has spoken in the past about his close relationship with his mother, Celia Cuccittini, a picture of whom he has tattooed on his left shoulder.
Messi, who entered Sunday’s final with continental and Olympic titles but no World Cup trophy, scored two goals for Argentina in a match widely acclaimed as one of the greatest soccer games ever played. His successful penalty kick in the 23rd minute opened the scoring for both teams, and he tallied again in the 108th to give Argentina a 3–2 lead.
In the penalty shootout, Messi nailed his first kick to put Argentina ahead 1–0. His teammates took it from there, connecting on all three of their remaining penalties to deny France a second straight World Cup title despite a hat trick from superstar forward Kylian Mbappé.
The win gave Argentina its third World Cup title, joining a win on home soil in 1978 and its iconic Diego Maradona-led title in Mexico in ’86.
