Qatar World Cup: Argentina beats France to be World Cup champions

At 83 minutes France has done the unthinkable. This is simply astonishing! Three minutes ago, France looked down and out! But suddenly they found something from somewhere – assisted by Otamendi’s hesitance – and this is 1986 all over again. Can Argentina recover like they did back then?Argentina has a 2-0 lead against France at half-time in the World Cup final after goals by Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria on Sunday in Doha, Qatar.

Messi scored on a 23rd-minute penalty kick after a foul on Di Maria. Thirteen minutes later Di Maria, who came back from an injury, finished off a flowing team move involving a deft flick from Messi.

It was Messi’s 12th World Cup goal. The star is making a record 26th appearance at the World Cup, breaking a tie with Germany great Lothar Matthäus.

Messi’s games have been spread over five World Cups, starting in 2006. He has 11 goals in total, tied for sixth in the all-time list. Messi has said this is likely to be his last World Cup.

World Cup lineups

Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Angel Di Maria, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister; Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi.

France: Hugo Lloris; Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Antoine Griezmann, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud.