Argentina won the World Cup Final in Doha, Qatar against France on December 18. The match was both show stopping for the millions of views and audience members and history making for the sport of soccer as a whole. Argentina controlled the ball for the first half with a competitive edge against the defending champions of France. They put high pressure on the ball and passed and attacked incisively. Lionel Messi of Argentina scored his first seamless goal off a penalty kick in the box. Then, Angel Di Maria scored off of a beautiful cross pass from an outside wing. France played slightly timidly and seemed to have accepted their fate. 

However, after a motivating half-time speech by their coach and star player Kylian Mbappe, France came back with a sense of urgency and true underdog mentality. Kylain scored a goal off a penalty kick and then scored another goal off an air pass to tie the game. The game proceeded in a series of two nail-biting 15 minute overtimes. Messi earned Argentina the lead in the second-half of the double-overtime. But, Mbappe equalized the score 3-3 and earned a hat trick, leading penalty kicks to decide the champion team. Argentina won the intense shootout 4-2 and became the World Cup Champions! 

Overall in the tournament, both opposing star players Messi and Mbappe completed legendary feats on the field. Messi got 7 goals  and received the Golden Ball, given to the best overall player in the tournament. Mbappe scored 8 goals which earned him the coveted Golden Boot award that is presented to the top goalscorer of the tournament. Messi got the Silver Boot. FIFA payed a tribute honoring Messi as one of the greatest footballers of all time, which included his remarkable trivia, statistics, and quotes. 

This marked Argentina’s third World Cup win. The last time they won was in 1986. The team went home with 42 million dollars for their victory. Millions of fans crowded in the streets of the capital city Buenos Aires on the declared national holiday to watch the soccer team on a 50-mile parade of victory on an open-air bus. Messi and his wife Antonela were greeted with a huge crowd in front of their house in their homecoming celebration. 

Many Hingham High students eagerly watched the thrilling final match. Junior Maeve Moynihan said, “I watched the game, and it was really exciting!” Similarly, Junior Kate Hall says, “I heard about the Argentina win and am super happy for the country.”