Argentina celebrates the men’s World Cup gold. In a stunning World Cup final, it defeated France in a penalty shootout 4–3 (r.p. 4–2).
The final, which was expected to be tough, served up more drama than anyone could have imagined. Argentina took the opening period, while France leveled in the second period with a three-minute power play.
The extra match and the penalty shootout served bucketloads of more football delights.
Urheilu’s football expert Jonne Kunnas break down the key moments of the match in this article.
In terms of Argentina’s 1st half game plan, the key player on the left wing became cool Angel Di Maria. The experienced striker constantly forced France’s right wing players on their toes, won the penalty kick that led to the opening goal and completed the 2-0 goal himself.
The French winger found himself in a particularly difficult situation Ousmane Dembele. The fast Frenchman’s strengths are in the offensive direction, but Di Maria drove him into problems in the defensive direction.
– Di Maria’s ability to pass gave Argentina a clear advantage. There weren’t even many players in the tournament like him who could pass opponents with the ball. It was especially served by Argentina’s choice to constantly keep two players right on the sidelines. It made it very difficult for France to defend against them, Kunnas opens.
According to Kunnas, the penalty kick was questionable to say the least.
– Overtaking was a great performance, but was the situation a comma in the end? There was contact in the situation, but it was really light and the clearest hit happened when Di Maria was already falling. A VAR inspection would have suited the nature of the situation, he reflects.
In the video below, you can see what was discussed in ‘s studio about the penalty kick.
France had to react to the challenges. First from the defensive line Jules Kounde had to move to the wing to help Dembele. When he pulled France’s field balance in a more challenging direction, was the head coach Didier Deschamps difficult place ahead. In the 40th minute of the match, Deschamps replaced Dembele and his top team Olivier Giroud’s away, came to the field Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram.
Di Maria, on the other hand, came on as a celebrated hero after playing 64 minutes. However, everything turned around in the second period, in just under three minutes.
With five passes, the deck is open
Argentina’s second goal was a textbook five-pass goal, with which they opened up the French defense and broke away. Nahuel Molina, Lionel Messi, Alexis McAllister, Julian Alvarez and Di Maria, who scored, worked seamlessly in Argentina’s goal.
– Argentina completely separated the players from their lines in the goal. You should pay attention to Mac Allister’s pass and movement. He finds Messi, who can move the ball forward with perfect rhythm. The fact that Messi had the patience to stop the movement of the ball for a moment, he again drew the players closer to him and away from the defensive direction, Kunnas opens.
– Alvarez, Mac Allister and Di Maria will use the imbalance to their advantage. The French players constantly have to break away late, which constantly opens up more space, he concludes.
You can watch the goal from the tactical angle opened below.
Mbappe and those less than two minutes
At the beginning of the second period, few would have believed that France would struggle to level in the final.
In the end, however, it only took less than two minutes.
With just over ten minutes left in the actual game time, France’s Kolo Muani won the running ball situation against Argentina’s top Nicolas Otamendi against. Kolo Muani made a half run away and Otamendi had to bring him down in the penalty area. The situation led to the second penalty kick of the match.
Kylian Mbappe took responsibility for the penalty kick and shot the goal keeper by Emi Martinez through the hands to the bottom corner.
Just under a minute from the narrow, Mbappe and Marcus Thuram bend to the French standards.
You can watch the goal from the tactical angle opened below.
– This is exactly what France is good at. by Kingsley Coman the exploit is excellent and he creates space for others after transporting it. Adrien Rabiot sees Mbappe perfectly, right where he is at his best. That is Mbappe’s place where he is comfortable, says expert Kunnas.
– Thuram and Mbappe’s passing wall is fantastic, but Mbappe’s volley finish is absolutely incredible.
Unfathomable continuation match
The follow-up match turned into an unimaginable drama. Argentina had a strong hold on the world championship for a while, but Kylian Mbappe brought France level by finishing his second penalty goal and completing his hat-trick at the same time.
So Argentina struck first in the follow-up match. Enzo Fernandez, Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martinez played a passing triangle that released Martinez alone through. French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris blocked Martinez’s drive, but Messi headed the loose ball into the goal. Although the French defense cleared the ball near the line, the entire ball reached the goal.
After the goal, there was a lot of excitement about whether the hit was offside. The situation was tight, but the semi-automatic offside system showed that the French topper Raphael Varane was the lowest. Varane’s backside remained the same body part that decided that Martinez was not offside when Messi’s pass went.
You can see the offside situation resolved in the video below.
France did not give up, but pushed on. In the end it paid off. Kylian Mbappe’s shot bounced in the penalty area after trying to cover the shot Gonzalo Montiel to the elbow. The ball was taken to the penalty spot again and Mbappe took the struggle with his goal to a penalty shootout worthy of all the drama of the final match. At the same time, Mbappe became the second player to score a hat-trick in the men’s World Cup final, the first since 1966 and England By Geoff Hurst.
The 36-year wait is over
The penalty shootout finally ended Argentina’s 36-year wait. Montiel, who caused the goal that equalized the overtime match, fired in the decisive penalty kick and the Argentines burst into tears of happiness. “La Tercera”, the third world championship, was finally for the sky blue and white.
– Regarding the commas, the goalkeeper Martinez stood out again. Extremely strong defensive work, but also the dominance of the mental game was at a tough level. High-quality shots, but especially Martinez’s defensive work became decisive, Kunnas describes.
After the match, Kunnas tried to summarize his thoughts about the wild final.
– This was one of the all-time finals, Kunnas begins.
– Argentina was able to control almost the entire match with their bally play. The superiority of the wing areas and especially Di Maria’s role as a creator of situations was important in the beginning. Similarly, the control and balance of the attack was also key for Argentina to launch a counter-press and prevent dangerous French counter-attacks.
According to Jonne Kunnas, France rose through their substitutions, high-quality counterattacks, and through the modification of their press. Still, the superstars eventually emerged again.
– In addition to Messi, especially Mbappe stood out in the tightest position, he concludes.