2022 FIFA World Cup
Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, beating France 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 final as Lionel Messi lifted the trophy.
Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup, beating France 4-2 on a penalty shootout at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 after the final finished 3-3 across 120 minutes. It was the third world title in the nation’s history and its first since 1986, and it answered the only question left on Lionel Messi’s résumé. The match, routinely called the greatest final the tournament has staged, set Messi, who scored twice and was voted the tournament’s best player, against Kylian Mbappé, whose hat trick could not keep the trophy in Paris.
| Fast facts | |
|---|---|
| Champion | Argentina (3rd title) |
| Runner-up | France |
| Dates | November 20 – December 18, 2022 |
| Venue(s) | Eight stadiums across Qatar; final at Lusail Stadium |
| Final result | 3-3 after extra time; Argentina won 4-2 on penalties |
| Tournament MVP (Golden Ball) | Lionel Messi |
| Attendance | 3,404,252 total; 88,966 at the final |
The setup
Qatar 2022 was the first World Cup held in the Arab world and the first staged in November and December rather than the traditional northern-hemisphere summer, a calendar move forced by the host country’s extreme summer heat. Thirty-two teams competed across eight stadiums, and the compressed winter schedule dropped players into the knockout rounds in mid-season form.
Argentina arrived under coach Lionel Scaloni carrying a 36-match unbeaten streak and the 2021 Copa América, the trophy that had ended Messi’s long wait for a senior title with the national team. At 35, Messi had said this would be his final World Cup, and the squad was built around him with Ángel Di María, Rodrigo De Paul and the emerging Julián Álvarez and Enzo Fernández.
France came as the defending champions, and their run to the final would make them the first title holders to reach a World Cup final since Brazil in 1998 and the first team to reach consecutive finals since Brazil in 1998 and 2002. Didier Deschamps built the title defense without a long list of injured players, among them Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kanté and Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, leaning instead on Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann and the veteran Olivier Giroud.
How it happened
Argentina’s tournament began with one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, a 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia on November 22 that put the pre-tournament favorite on the brink. The response was two controlled wins, 2-0 over Mexico and 2-0 over Poland, to top Group C. In the Round of 16 Argentina edged Australia 2-1, then survived the quarterfinal later nicknamed the Battle of Lusail: 2-2 against the Netherlands after Wout Weghorst’s late equalizer, settled 4-3 on penalties. A 3-0 semifinal win over Croatia, with a goal from Messi and two from Álvarez, carried them to the final.
France navigated Group D by beating Australia 4-1 and Denmark 2-1 before resting much of the side in a 0-1 loss to Tunisia. In the knockout rounds they beat Poland 3-1, edged England 2-1 in a quarterfinal in which Harry Kane missed a late penalty, and defeated Morocco 2-0 in the semifinal. Morocco’s run made it the first African nation to reach a World Cup semifinal.
The final itself swung twice. Messi converted a penalty in the 23rd minute and Di María doubled the lead in the 36th, and for an hour France were barely in the game. Then Mbappé scored a penalty in the 80th minute and struck again 97 seconds later to force extra time. Messi put Argentina ahead again in the 108th minute; Mbappé answered with a second penalty in the 118th to complete his hat trick, the first in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966, and make it 3-3. In the shootout Emiliano Martínez saved from Kingsley Coman, Aurélien Tchouaméni dragged his attempt wide, and Gonzalo Montiel scored the decisive fourth kick.
By the numbers
| Match | Date | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group C vs Saudi Arabia | Nov 22, 2022 | L 1-2 | Messi penalty; major upset |
| Group C vs Mexico | Nov 26, 2022 | W 2-0 | Messi, Enzo Fernández |
| Group C vs Poland | Nov 30, 2022 | W 2-0 | Mac Allister, Álvarez |
| Round of 16 vs Australia | Dec 3, 2022 | W 2-1 | Messi, Álvarez |
| Quarterfinal vs Netherlands | Dec 9, 2022 | D 2-2 (4-3 pens) | Battle of Lusail |
| Semifinal vs Croatia | Dec 13, 2022 | W 3-0 | Messi, Álvarez (2) |
| Final vs France | Dec 18, 2022 | D 3-3 (4-2 pens) | Messi (2), Di María |
Per FBref and FIFA, Argentina's full run, through the December 18, 2022 final.
The record
Per FIFA's official figures; a record 172 goals were scored, and around five billion people engaged with the tournament.
Honors
- 2022 World Cup champions: Argentina
- Golden Ball: Lionel Messi
- Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappé (8 goals)
- Silver Boot: Lionel Messi (7 goals)
- Golden Glove: Emiliano Martínez
- Young Player Award: Enzo Fernández
- Runners-up: France
Per olympics.com award records; Messi became the only player to win the Golden Ball twice, after 2014.
The arguments
The loudest debate is whether the final was genuinely the best the tournament has produced or whether the back-and-forth owed as much to defensive lapses as to brilliance. Supporters point to three lead changes, a hat trick and a shootout; skeptics note that France were passive for an hour and that the chaos, however thrilling, was partly a story of errors.
A second argument concerns the officiating. France’s camp questioned Argentina’s opening penalty and later contested the buildup to Messi’s second goal, which crossed the line while Argentine substitutes were near the pitch. Argentina’s side counters that referee Szymon Marciniak and the video review process were consistent and that France had their own penalties awarded.
The individual framing endures as well. Mbappé won the Golden Boot with eight goals yet finished on the losing side, while Messi took the Golden Ball and the trophy with seven, a split that let both camps claim the night’s defining performance belonged to their man.
Why it matters
The 2022 final closed the central argument of a generation: Messi, long measured against Diego Maradona’s 1986 triumph, delivered the World Cup that his résumé lacked, and did it in a match that produced a losing hat trick and a shootout for the ages. For Argentina it ended a 36-year wait; for France it confirmed Mbappé as the sport’s next defining forward even in defeat. It is the tournament the search query “who won the 2022 World Cup” will keep returning to, and the hinge on which both the Messi and Mbappé stories turn.
