Argentina is the FIFA World Cup 2022 winner after it edged out France in a nail biting penalty shootout.
After winning the 2022 World Cup final, Lionel Messi has surpassed Lothar Matthäus (Germany) for the record of most FIFA World Cup matches played in by a player (26), the www.guinnessworldrecords.com reported.
Argentina started the match brightly against France as Messi scored a penalty in the 23rd minute to put his side 1-0 up, before Ángel Di María doubled their lead 13 minutes later.
However, disaster struck deep into the second half as Mbappé scored two goals in two minutes to take the game into extra time.
Unfazed, Messi again put Argentina ahead, although this goal was soon negated by Mbappé, who scored a penalty in the 118th minute to equal Geoff Hurst’s (UK) record for the most goals by a player in a FIFA World Cup final (3).
Argentina won the following penalty shootout 4-2 to claim their third World Cup trophy, 36 years after winning their last. Argentina extended their record for the most penalty shoot-out victories in FIFA World Cup tournaments by a team (6).
Messi played sensationally throughout the tournament, setting four other Guinness World Records titles in the process:
- Most Man of the Match awards won at the FIFA World Cup: 11
- First person to assist at five different FIFA World Cups
- Most FIFA World Cup appearances as captain: 19
- Most appearances in FIFA World Cup tournaments by a player (male): 5
Before the start of the 2022 World Cup, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Arjen Robben had each won six Man of the Match awards at World Cup tournaments.
Messi pulled ahead of the pack after a string of dazzling performances, earning Man of the Match in five games including the final.
This match saw Ronaldo hit the headlines for becoming the first person to score at five different World Cups, however, not to be outdone, Messi then became the first person to assist at five different World Cups. His assist to Enzo Fernández sealed a much-needed 2-0 victory for Argentina against Mexico as they sought to bounce back from their shock defeat to Saudi Arabia.
Argentina went on to defeat Poland 2-0, before edging out Australia 2-1 in the round of 16.
