What a final. After a breathless night at the Lusail Stadium just north of Doha, which saw Argentina defeat France on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw, Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the one trophy that has eluded him. Say it with me: Messi has won the World Cup with Argentina.
How lucky are we to have witnessed that?
Messi scored twice during the game and nonchalantly rolled in the opening penalty for Argentina in the shootout. His second, in the 108th minute of extra time, appeared to have won the game for good.
His PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe had other ideas, however, and completed his hat-trick with just two minutes of the game remaining, becoming the only player other than Geoff Hurst to bag one in a final.
It won’t shock you to learn that both players made our shortlist of the best forwards at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but who came out on top? Here were the five best during the tournament.
Three goals in three games during the group stages are enough to earn Cody Gakpo the fifth spot on our countdown in what was an impressive major tournament debut.
The 23-year-old PSV forward started every game for his country as the Netherlands reached the quarter-finals before losing to the eventual champions Argentina on penalties. His thunderbolt against Ecuador was one of the best goals of the tournament and he looks destined for bigger things than the Eredivisie.
Could a January transfer be on the cards?
A serious contender for best young player at the tournament, Julian Alvarez was pipped at the post by his teammate Enzo Fernandez but surely won’t be too annoyed about that.
Alvarez broke into Lionel Scaloni’s starting line-up in Argentina’s third game of the tournament and final group match against Poland but kept his place from that point on.
Watching the 22-year-old Manchester City forward dovetail so beautifully with Lionel Messi as an unorthodox front two was a joy and his solo goal against Croatia in the semi-final – while slightly fortuitous at the end – was a brilliant demonstration of Alvarez’s talent.
Olivier Giroud was substituted in the 41st minute of the final but don’t let that tarnish an otherwise stellar tournament from the veteran target man.
In Qatar, Giroud…
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