Argentina vs France, FIFA World Cup Final: Twitter hails 'greatest game' as La Albiceleste give Messi dream farewell

Argentina ended a 36-year-long wait and ensured talismanic forward Lionel Messi’s dream finally came true as they beat France on penalties in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Lusail, Qatar on Sunday.

Messi, considered one of the greatest players to have ever graced the ‘beautiful game’, thus ended his wait to get his hands on the one trophy that had eluded him for so long in a glittering 17-year international career.

And it was Messi who put his side in the lead by converting a 23rd-minute penalty, collecting his seventh goal of the ongoing tournament. Angel Di Maria would then double the lead 13 minutes later as La Albiceleste went into the halftime interval with a two-goal advantage.

The Argentines would hold on to their lead till the 80th minute before a Kylian Mbappe penalty turned the game on its head. Mbappe, who would later win the Golden Boot Award, fired in the equaliser just a minute later to leave the opposition and their vast fan contingent at the Lusail Stadium stunned.

The extra time would witness Messi and Mbappe add to their goal tallies, the latter becoming the first since English legend Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, and the two sides would be locked at three-all by the time by the final whistle was blown at the end of extra time.

As was the case in their win over the Netherlands, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez would once again prove to be the hero for Argentina in the shootout, stopping Kingsley Coman’s attempt by diving in the right direction before Aurélien Tchouaméni’s shot went just wide of the post. La Albiceleste wouldn’t miss a single shot, with Gonzalo Montiel scoring the winning penalty to seal the final 4-2 in Argentina’s favour.

The final was a fitting end to what turned out to be one of the most competitive editions of the FIFA World Cup ever, with many describing the Argentina-France final as the “greatest game of football” ever.

We take a look at some of the top reactions to the World Cup final below:

Many congratulations to Mbappe, whatever happens. I've had a great run!

— Sir Geoff Hurst (@TheGeoffHurst) December 18, 2022

Not sure that @FIFAWorldCup could have gone any worse for you @piersmorgan 😂👍

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) December 18, 2022

Is messi the best athlete of all time? Forget just football. What a man.

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) December 18, 2022

Messssiiiii! Unbe-fucking-lievable! I won’t say that on the telly.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 18, 2022

Lionel Messi. The Best Ever. 🐐

— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) December 18, 2022

24,400 tweets per second for France’s goal, highest ever for World Cup!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022

Ok if I have a heart attack it’s cause I’m watching this #FIFAWorldCup

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) December 18, 2022

one of the greatest games of any sport final ever. if you aren’t watching now, make sure you are.

— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) December 18, 2022

I'm going to have a heart attack. This is the greatest World Cup game I've ever seen.

— Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) December 18, 2022

Messi is so good that he can even beat the Drake curse. pic.twitter.com/UzjLUkXQsD

— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) December 18, 2022

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