Lionel Messi crowned his glorious three-decade-long football career with a FIFA World Cup title on Sunday, outdoing defending champions France in a final that will be remembered for ages.
The Lusail Stadium in Qatar reverberated with chants of Argentine fans and back home in Buenos Aires, a crowd of two million gathered to celebrate the football legend.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 final produced several standout moments, including those of Messi celebrating the historic moment with the people closest to him.
His wife Antonela Roccuzzo and sons Thiago, Mateo and Ciro joined him on field.
Lionel Messi celebrates World Cup win with his family #ARG pic.twitter.com/V8AVSI15srRelated stories
— Fútbol (@El_Futbolesque) December 19, 2022
The children were seen marvelling at Argentina's gold FIFA trophy.
Messi presents the World Cup trophy to his children; thiago, Mateo and Ciro! pic.twitter.com/6hthgD9J81— infosfcb (@infosfcb) December 18, 2022
The 35-year-old Argentine star and his team beat France 4-2 in penalty shootout. The defending champions put up a strong fight, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick to equal Argentina in extra time. Mbappe went on to win the Golden Boot.
Messi said he would like to end his football career after bringing home the first World Cup since Diego Maradona and team in 1986 but would play a few more matches for Argentina.
"I want to keep experiencing a few more matches as world champion," he was quoted as saying by AFP.
Messi has played for Argentina 172 times, scoring 98 goals since his 2005 debut.
For France, it was a gutting night. They were hoping to make history by successfully defending their world cup title.
"We were not as good in the first 60 minutes against top-quality opponents who had a lot more energy," coach Didier Deschamps told AFP. "But we came back from nowhere and turned the game around from a very difficult situation. That leaves us with even more regrets."
(With inputs from AFP)
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