Lionel Messi won the 2022 World Cup final for Argentina at Lusail Stadium in Qatar

Lionel Messi won the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, scoring twice in the final against France at Lusail Stadium in Qatar in 2022. The match finished 3-3 after extra time and was decided by a penalty shootout.

The game in Doha featured a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe and was watched by about 1.5 billion people worldwide. The article described how he won Argentina the World Cup in 2022 as "one of the greatest stories in sport."

Argentina took a 2-0 lead after 36 minutes; Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Angel Di Maria added the second. That two-goal cushion remained in place until late in the second half.

France mounted a late recovery, with Mbappe scoring twice within a couple of minutes to force extra time after the equaliser arrived in the 80th minute. The sudden turnaround sent the contest beyond 90 minutes.

In extra time Messi made it 3-2 with 12 minutes remaining, and Mbappe converted a subsequent penalty to level the score and set up a shootout. In the penalty shootout, Messi and Mbappe took the first kicks for their teams and both scored, while misses from Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni proved costly for France.

"Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the FIFA World Cup trophy after being presented with the Golden Ball award following victory in the FIFA World Cup final at Lusail Stadium, Qatar." The piece added: "It would have been a great injustice if Messi hadn’t got that opportunity to have that memorable stolen kiss on the trophy."

The article also recalled how he set up the goal for Julian Alvarez in the semifinal against Croatia, concluding that "Qatar 2022 will remain forever a classic example of a rare genius at work, and under pressure."