In his fifth and final World Cup, Lionel Messi has finally managed to fulfil his dream of winning the FIFA World Cup title. The 35-year-old led the show from the front in Qatar this year and helped the South American giants end the long wait of 36 years to win the FIFA World Cup title. Messi finished the tournament as the leading goal scorer and assist provider for Argentina. In seven matches, he scored seven goals and also provided three assists. Out of the total of seven goals he scored in Qatar this year, two came on the night of the final.
In the summit clash against France, which took place at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Sunday night, Messi opened the scoring in the 23rd minute of the game. Argentina doubled its advantage in the 36th minute when Angel Di Maria scored his first goal in Qatar. Just when it looked like Argentina was on the cusp of securing an outright win, Kylian Mbappe changed the game by scoring two goals in less than 100 seconds.
With the scores level at 2-2 after the end of 90 minutes, the match went to additional extra time, and in the second half of extra time, Messi once again put Argentina ahead by scoring his second and his team’s third goal of the game. But it was not enough to put the game to bed as Mbappe scored one more to take the game to penalties.
In the shootout, Messi scored the first goal for Argentina, and the other players also successfully converted their spot kicks to seal the deal for the South Americans.
After winning the World Cup, Messi enjoyed the occasion by celebrating with his teammates and family members. And in one of the viral videos, Messi can be seen hugging his mother and celebrating the massive achievement. In the video, one can see his mother rushing to hug him from behind, and upon seeing her, the Argentine legend had a wide smile on his face. The duo hugged each other tight.
For this spectacular show in Qatar, Messi won the Golden Ball award, which is given to the best player of the tournament. Messi won the golden ball for the second time in the FIFA World Cup. In the 2014 edition as well, he won the top individual prize.
