Argentina won (3-3, PK 4-2) against France in the 2022 토토 FIFA World Cup final held at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail, Qatar at 0:00 am (Korean time) on the 19th. With this, Argentina reached the top of the World Cup for the first time in 36 years since 1986.
got the win early. Argentina opened the scoring in the first half with Lionel Messi’s penalty kick and Angel Di María’s second goal after a perfect counterattack to widen the gap. It seemed to overwhelm the atmosphere of the game. Argentina tied the French players tightly with a solid defense and high activity in the midfield. This trend continued until the end of the second half, and Argentina seemed to be getting closer to winning.
France was not a place to stand still. Kylian Mbappe took the lead and sprinkled red pepper powder. Mbappe scored twice in the last two minutes of the second half to bring the game back to square one. The game went into overtime, and Messi and Mbappe each scored one goal to make it 3-3. Argentina went all the way to the penalty shootout and finally added a star to the left chest of their jerseys.
It was Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty shoot-out that sealed Argentina’s victory. Montiel succeeded as Argentina’s fourth kicker, and when Montiel’s shot went into the goal, the Argentine players cheered and shed tears.
There were others who cheered and shed tears. It was Batistuta. Argentinian legend Batistuta participated in the World Cup as a commentator for Qatar’s ‘Bein Sports’, and he couldn’t hold back his tears when Montiel succeeded in a penalty shoot-out. Batistuta’s appearance was broadcast as it was, and later became a hot topic on social media.
He seemed to be filled with emotion because his juniors had won the World Cup, which he had not been able to do. Batistuta said, “It’s amazing. Vamos (Let’s go), Argentina. Messi, Argentina, everyone is happy. There are no words. Everyone wanted Argentina to win. I’m sorry I couldn’t control my emotions.”
He was also the championship of his juniors beyond himself. As Argentina won the title, Batistuta handed over his record to Messi. Batistuta was the holder of the most World Cup goals (10 goals) in the history of the Argentina national team, and Messi added 7 goals in this World Cup to reach a total of 13 goals.