The dust has barely settled following a most sensational FIFA World Cup final on Sunday evening.
Argentina edged France, on penalties, to celebrate its third world title and first for 36 years.
The final itself was a scintillating affair, touted as the greatest World Cup final in history, though it only truly came to life with 10 minutes of the 90′ remaining.
If there were any lingering doubts, Lionel Messi duly put an end to the incessant ‘GOAT’ debate and also cemented his legacy into World Cup folklore.
Eight years on from the devastating final defeat to Germany, Messi redeemed himself and for the first time in history, the 35-year-old awoke this morning a world champion.
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A flurry of records were rewritten and milestones past at the Lusail Stadium, and we’ve divided these updated facts and statistics into three categories: Lionel Messi & Argentina, Kylian Mbappé & France, and the FIFA World Cup.
– Lionel Messi & Argentina
The title-deciding match at Qatar 2022 signified the 26th match Messi has played at World Cup events, more than any player in history. Lothar Matthäus, a World Cup winner with Germany, featured 25 times at the finals. Messi also surpassed Paolo Maldini’s tally of 2,216 minutes played at the World Cup.
Messi converted a penalty midway through the first-half, making the Argentina captain the first player to score in the group stage, last-16, quarter-final, semi-final and final in a single edition of the World Cup.
Messi’s goal in extra-time was his 13th at the World Cup; only Miroslav Klose (16), Ronaldo Nazário (15) and Gerd Müller (14) have scored more times at the quadrennial event.
The Argentine icon scored more goals (7) at Qatar 2022 than he did at the previous four World Cups combined (6).
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Messi claimed the Golden Ball for best player at the showpiece, making him the only player to twice win the prize since its establishment in 1982.
Messi is the third Argentina captain to hoist the World Cup trophy, following in the footsteps of Daniel Passarella and Diego Maradona before him.
Aged 44, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni is the youngest manager to take charge of a World Cup final since Rudi Völler did so in 2002 (42). Scaloni is also the youngest World Cup-winning manager since countryman César Luis Menotti in 1978 at the age of 39.
Enzo Fernández, 21, was named Best Young Player of the tournament and the Argentina midfielder put in a colossal display against the French. His 77 successful passes were the most of any player on the pitch, while his 10 tackles were the most of any player in a World Cup final since Gennaro Gattuso (15) for Italy in 2006.
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– Kylian Mbappé & France
After an extremely quiet first-half, Mbappé showed up with two goals in the space of 97 seconds to become the second player to score a brace in a World Cup final after Ronaldo for Brazil in 2002.
The soon-to-be 24-year-old completed his hat-trick in extra-time and he is the first man to score thrice in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst for England in 1966. Mbappé is also the first player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup and lose the game.
With his goal versus Croatia in the 2018 final, he has now scored four goals in the World Cup final – more than any other player in the tournament’s history.
1 – Kylian Mbappé in the World Cup:
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) December 18, 2022
🥇4 goals in final
🥇8 goals in knockout stage, joint-highest total
🥇10th, 11th and 12th goals aged 23
Prodigy. #ARGFRA pic.twitter.com/hea2O8NNA9
Mbappé scored eight goals at Qatar 2022, the most at a World Cup since Ronaldo in 2002, to scoop the Golden Boot ahead of Messi.
The French prodigy is now up to 12 goals in 14 matches at the World Cup – level with Brazil legend Pelé – and he is the youngest player to register 10 goals at the tournament.
Youngest players to 10 #FIFAWorldCup goals:
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) December 18, 2022
Mbappé: 23y 363d 🆕
G.Müller: 24-226
Kocsis: 24-282
T.Müller: 24-298
Fontaine: 24-314
Ronaldo: 25-277
Klose: 28-21
Rahn: 28-316
Cubillas: 29-95
Lineker: 29-216
Pelé: 29-230
Lato: 32-75
Batistuta: 33-121
Klinsmann: 33-330
Messi: 35-168 pic.twitter.com/SKT2RrigJz
France are the first team on record to not attempt a shot at goal in the first-half of a World Cup final. They also failed to register a single touch in the opposition box throughout the opening period.
Despite a late Mbappé-inspired comeback, it was not quite enough for Les Bleus to be crowned the first back-to-back world champions since Brazil in 1962.
Prior to the final, France had won all of its last seven knockout games at the World Cup. Twice have they lost on penalties in the final, after going down to Italy in 2006.
– FIFA World Cup
There were a total 172 goals at Qatar 2022, the most scored at any World Cup event in history.
For the fourth time at the last five World Cup events, the final went into extra-time. For only the third time ever, the final match-up was decided on penalties.
In total there were five penalty shootouts at Qatar 2022, more than at any other edition of the tournament.
Thank you, Qatar 2022. 🇶🇦
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) December 19, 2022
🥇 Argentina
🥈 France
🥉 Croatia
⚽️ A record 172 goals scored
Golden Boot ⚽️ Kylian Mbappé
Golden Ball 🔝 Lionel Messi
Best Young Player 👦 Enzo Fernandez
Best goalkeeper 👐 Emiliano Martinez#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/PCSwKmVqlG
Messi is the GOAT