The 2022 World Cup final did not disappoint as Lionel Messi cemented his place amongst the greats in Argentina's triumph.
The 35-year-old opened the scoring from the spot and thought he won it in extra-time stabbing home on the rebound after Hugo Lloris denied Lautaro Martinez. But despite cruising for 79 minutes with a two-goal lead, France showed why they were reigning champions and restored parity with a jaw-dropping 90-second salvo from Kylian Mbappe.
Both of Paris Saint-Germain's stars went toe-to-toe again in extra-time with the little magician drawing first blood but the Frenchman made no mistake and dispatched his second penalty of the evening after Marcos Acuna was adjudged to have handled in the penalty area.
READ MORE: Argentina win the 2022 FIFA World Cup on penalties as Lionel Messi stars in dramatic final
Messi, who has seven Ballon d'Or honours to his name as well as every major club honour in Europe including in Spain and France, finally got his hands on international football's most prestigious piece of silverware.
He cooly slotted his penalty before former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was again the hero from the penalty spot, as he was during the Copa America and again against Holland in the knockouts.
Argentina winning the World Cup ended Europe's 20-year dominance in the competition and for La Albiceleste, the 26-man squad are now immortalised with the likes of Diego Maradona and the 1986 World Cup-winning side.
Messi's post on Instagram scooped five million likes in just 15 minutes with players across the world leaping to congratulate the 35-year-old. One of which was his PSG teammate, Neymar, who saw his dreams shatter to the hands of Croatia in the quarter-finals.
His post, at the time of writing, which has been liked over 16 million times said: "Felicidades Hermano (Congrats Brother)."
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