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If ever fans were treated to a rollercoaster ride in a sporting event, then yesterday’s Fifa World Cup final was it. After dominating the first half and taking a 2-0 lead, France somehow managed to turn the tables in the final 10 minutes of normal playing time and send the match into extra-time and eventual penalties with Argentina coming out on top to lift their third World Cup title.
The Argentines opened the scoring after 20 minutes with what some called a dubious penalty after Ousmane Dembele, who had looked out of sorts all game, appeared to have downed Angel Di Maria inside the box, but replays show there was very little contact and Di Maria went down with the stiff breeze at his ankles.
Lionel Messi converted the resulting spot kick to send the Argentinian fans into raptures. A flowing counter-attack 16 minutes later put one hand on the trophy for Argentina as they moved the ball down field with Alexis Mac Allister slotting a beautiful pass out wide to Di Maria, who coolly slotted past Spurs shot-stopper, Hugo Lloris.
The score line resulted in coach Didier Deschamps to make some changes before the break with Ousemane Dembele being replaced by Randal Kolo Muani and Olivier Giroud being subbed by Marcus Thuram.
The changes though had not produced the desired effect as France had yet to register a shot on target by the hour mark. But, with 10 minutes left on the clock, Nicolas Otamendi was penalized for pulling a player back inside the box and Kylian Mbappe stepped up to slot the penalty home – giving France a sniff.
And then, just a minute later, Thuram crafted a beautiful pass to Mbappe inside the box, who’s first-time strike found the back of the net to level matters. France appealed for another penalty three-minutes from time after Thuram was brought down but the referee waived away the players.
With the match reaching the halfway stage of extra-time, both sides had chances to take the advantage but it was that man again, Messi, who pounced on a rebound three minutes into the second period that gave Argentina the lead again. With Argentina seaming to be on course for victory, Mbappe made sure that the match would go to penalties.
Gonzalo Mantiel handled the ball inside the box with four minutes left on the clock and Mbappe stepped up and slotted home the penalty. France had a chance on the stroke of full time to win the match but Muani’s header from Mbappe’s cross went just wide of the post and the teams prepared for the worst way to decide a tournament.
Mbappe stepped up first and slotted home but Messi responded with his spot-kick to level matters at 1-1. Then, former Arsenal keeper, Emi Martinez saved Kingsley Coman’s poor effort before Paulo Dybala slotted to hand Argentina a 2-1 lead. Then the biggest mistake came from Aurelien Tchouameni who sent his spot-kick narrowly wide of the left-hand upright.
Leandro Paredes slotted for Argentina before Muani did the job for France to keep them in the hunt. Lloris needed to save Montiel’s shot to keep France in it but the Argentine’s shot low into the left-hand corner gave Lloris no chance and Argentina were crowned world champions for the first time since 1986.
Woody also celebrated victory in the #1BallZAWorldCupCorner prediction game despite not scoring any points in the final. France’s late flurry gave me eight points to close the gap but ultimately, Woody won the tournament by just five points.
ChippyBoy finished a distant third, 23 points behind myself while Paddy – who will be joining the Premier League predictor now – came last with 46 points.
Now that the World Cup is done and dusted, with Messi having a golden trophy to his name and Mbappe a golden boot, we can now refocus on the Premier League where Arsenal sit top and Woody holds a slender one-point advantage in the table.
The English Premier League returns on Boxing Day with Newcastle travelling to a resurgent Leicester and Arsenal hosting London rivals, West Ham. Manchester United take on Nottingham Forest the following day.
