After the Albiceleste victory, the Argentine newspapers were full of praise. Starting with the main sports daily in the country, Olewhich qualifies Sunday’s game (3-3, 4-2 after penalties), of “the most exciting final in history”. On the Argentinian media site, the images of the victory of Lionel Messi and his team are accompanied by the title “The new life”, 36 years after their last coronation at the World Cup. In the column of journalist Sasha Gigliani, a tribute is even paid to the wife of the Argentine number 10, faithful support of her husband: “Messi wears the sword, but Antonela, his wife, is the shield.”
“A meeting that will go down in the legend of the World Cup. What emotions! What madness at the Lusail Stadium!” ignites the spanish site As.com. The media salute a game rich in twists and turns, with three goals from Mbappé, two goals from Lionel Messi and one from Angel Di Maria. “Argentina celebrates a World Cup again! From Maradona to Messi, from Di Stefano to Julián Álvarez […] But Argentina are world champions and Messi got the long-awaited trophy,” enthuses ace.
All the newspapers in the country give pride of place to Lionel Messi, whose exploits they praise. The Nation writes about the Albiceleste captain: “He scored goals against Australia, the Netherlands, Croatia and France. […] How can one person do it all?” For the daily columnist Clarin, yesterday’s victory represents an “unforgettable” Sunday of justice. In another article dedicated to the World Cup, a journalist recalls that Lionel Scaloni’s team “suffered” against French striker Mbappé, but that “the adventure in Qatar had a dream ending”.
“One of those stabs that go through the heart”
On the other side of the Atlantic, the defeat is bitter. But the show offered by the Blues serves as a consolation prize. Testifies to this The Team which titles “The head held high”, highlighting the performance of the players who knew how to keep us in suspense until the end of this World Cup. “One of these heroic matches that crosses time”, underlines the French daily, but also “one of these stabs that cross the heart”. “The almost perfect history of the French team in the World Cup” seems to want to reassure The world. Same mindset in Release which soberly titles “Legendaries”, with a photo cut in two: on the left, Lionel Messi who lets his joy burst, and on the right Kylian Mbappé who seems to be screaming with rage.
Elsewhere in the world, the feat of the Argentinians did not go unnoticed. “Messi’s latest World Cup isn’t just a competition. It’s a cause, a rebellion,” journalist Sid Lowe wrote in the British newspaper. The Guardian. And he added: “His teammates were not just looking for the Argentine triumph, but their happiness, a kind of justice. In Italy, Gazzetta dello Sport considers this World Cup “unforgettable” and considers as many media in the world that Messi is “a hyphen with Maradona”. For the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung“Lionel Messi creates an eternal work” by winning “the first title of world champion in a white and blue cathedral”.
The daily El País speaks of a “monumental” match, with the face-to-face between the Argentine captain and Mbappé, compared to “two colossi”. “A final for eternity in which the France of the Mbappé tornado succumbed to the roulette of shots on goal”, writes the newspaper. On his side, The evening in Belgium title “Messi finally on top of the world after fifteen years of torment and a turning point.” In the Swiss daily Time, the match is compared to “a tango” in order to accentuate the fact that the players went through all the moods. Even in Brazil, rival of Albiceleste, the victory of the Argentine “brothers” is highlighted in the daily newspaper O Globo, going so far as to say that Messi ‘deeply deserved to lift the cup’. The whole world seems unanimous.