FIFA World Cup Football 2022 (Qatar)

[Elite]

That third goal Argentina scored was Messi gold. Wow!

Sorry for Croatia, but in this match they didn’t stand a chance.

[Zoom E]

Yeah, I’m hoping for Argentina to win it all now, to give Messi his long desired World Cup trophy.

[MirrorMask]

Now I'll have to root for Morocco 

I've always considered Messi a Barcellona GOAT rather than a football GOAT, since he was always there (and won everything also with the help of a stellar midfield, it's easier to score when you have Iniesta and Xavi behind you) and he never carried Argentina on his shoulders like Maradona did (three finals lost in three years...), but it looks like he finally "unlocked" that level and his whole team is firing on all cylinders (some questionable moments aside, see the mess with the Netherlands).

If Argentina or France win it it's gonna be the third cup for either team, at this point I'll settle for what's less worse and if it's really Argentina vs France, I guess Argentina winning is less worse than France winning twice in a row.

[Elite]

Morocco didn’t stand a chance really, almost similar to Croatia in last night’s match.

The final is going to be fun!

[lonestar]

Definitely got the best two teams in there. Pulling for Messi to finally get his cup.

[gzarruk]

Let's go Argentina!

[MirrorMask]

Rationally speaking, this is the best possible final. The two teams that have been overall most consistent and that always gave the impression to have their own destiny in their hands, and the ability to change the outcome of any game. They never raised the question "how come they're still around?", it was plain to see that they were one notch above the rest. It's gonna be two teams with already two cups, it's gonna be Messi vs Mbappè, it's gonna be another classic Europe vs South America match.

But still, the fun of football is also the unrational side, the game of thrones-esque rivalries and preferences, so screw you France, look what you made me do, I'll have to root for Argentina and the never ending arguments about Messi being a god on earth from now on. 

At this point I also hope Morocco gets "the bronze", it would be cool for them to arrive third in the World Cup.

[Zoom E]

Rationally speaking, this is the best possible final. The two teams that have been overall most consistent and that always gave the impression to have their own destiny in their hands, and the ability to change the outcome of any game. They never raised the question "how come they're still around?", it was plain to see that they were one notch above the rest. It's gonna be two teams with already two cups, it's gonna be Messi vs Mbappè, it's gonna be another classic Europe vs South America match.

But still, the fun of football is also the unrational side, the game of thrones-esque rivalries and preferences, so screw you France, look what you made me do, I'll have to root for Argentina and the never ending arguments about Messi being a god on earth from now on. 

At this point I also hope Morocco gets "the bronze", it would be cool for them to arrive third in the World Cup.

For pure entertainment value, this is definitely the best possible final, assuming it lives up to it’s potential. While it would have been cool to see Morocco make the final, it didn’t really feel like they deserved it based on their largely defensive style of play. Today’s match was the first one where Morocco's play really impressed me.

[Elite]

So far: first ten minutes were fun, now it's a bit boring.

[MirrorMask]

And now Croatia is on the podium! third place after second place last time around. Wow.

Now final act tomorrow! people gloating about Messi being the second coming of Christ for ages to come is the price I'm willing to pay as long as France doesn't win two World Cups in a row 

(but if France wins, I want Giroud to score the decisive goal, since he plays for my AC Milan)

[lonestar]

This game is fucking crazy

[gzarruk]

The craziest thing ever

[lonestar]

Even after M'Bappe's penalty kick to tie it, in the last minute, there were two very, very close misses. The intensity of this one is off the charts.


This penalty kick round is gonna be intense...

[gzarruk]

Argentina!

[Elite]

What a match. Easily the best of the tournament.

This was edge of the seat stuff after the 80th minute

I’m glad Argentina won in the end, a France win would have been undeserved as they seemed to hinge way too much on Mbappé.

[XJDenton]

Good effort by both teams.

[Zoom E]

Argentina were so dominant until France finally scored. It’s unfortunate that they gave up those two goals in regulation time, but then it wouldn’t have turned into such a dramatic and thrilling match. So glad that Argentina managed to prevail in PKs. A deserved outcome.

[KevShmev]

Lame ending (I HATE PKs deciding it), but great match.  Very exciting.

[krands85]

[JediKnight1969]

¡GRACIAS MUCHACHOS!

[MirrorMask]

Woah! what a final! seriously one of the best finals ever!

I didn't watch it all, had a party with coworkers at one of them's house, but we kept track of the match. Missed the two goals of Argentina 'cause we were walking around the neighbourhood for the Xmas markets. Came back to the home of our host with eventually everyone leaving, and I saw Mbappè scoring two goals in three minutes!

Then since it would have been too late I went home, and during my drive extra time happened, I headed for my cousin's house to watch the end of the match, got notice of Messi's goal and then she called me, "penalty for France!!!!", and I shouted "I'm parking!!!!", as in "can you please tell the referee to hold on for a little while, I'm just about to arrive?" 

What a whirlwind of emotions... for an entire match Argentina dominated, then Mbappè single handledly turned it around, and extra time was on fire. Think of poor Mbappè, he scored three goals, four counting the penalty during the shoot out, and he lost.

Also, it's one of these rare times when penalties feel like an extra layer of excitement, rather than a cop-out. Italy - Brasil in 1994? criminal choice to make them play in the noon in the scorching humid heat, no emotions, 0-0. Italy - France in 2006? it was a draw, two goals at the beginning (but Toni scored a valid one, grrr) and then people only remember Zidane's headbutt. This of course was another draw technically speaking, but the emotions were so many that penalties felt like the icing on the cake, rather than just the outcome of a boring match.

The best possible final did deliver. Croatia vs Morocco would have not been as great as a final. Of course I wanted them to reach the finals as I didn't want neither France to win two cups in a row, nor Messi's fanboys smileing all over the internet for ages to come, but both Argentina and France deserved to be there, and they gave us a match for the ages. Brilliant ending to a world cup awarded to a nation with no football history or culture only because of bribes. And Messi had to lift the trophy wearing a qatarian robe.... I get it's a sign of respect but come on, when have we ever seen a captain lifting a world cup wearing anything else beside the jersey of the nation he represents?

[Nekov]

Yeah, I probably died a couple of times yesterday 
Man, it was such a rollercoaster. For much of the match I felt like we had it in the bag, that it would turn out to be the great win we were all waiting for. But France really fought for it in the end and I think Scaloni made the mistake of not changing some players sooner. It was obvious that some of Argentina's players were tired and eventually the french took advantage of this.
I can imagine that for someone who was neutral this must have been an amazing experience, but I can assure you that for anyone really involved in this it was a dream come true and a nightmare at the same time.
Fortunately for us, Martinez came away with that miraculous save in the extra time and afterwards I knew we were winning the penalties. Still suffered through them, but I was confident that the guys would come through.
Messi finally got the trophy he wanted the most and one that I think he deserved.

[MirrorMask]

Messi finally got the trophy he wanted the most and one that I think he deserved.

Yeah, as I said before somewhere in the thread I thought he never really lived up to his potential and he was never a strong leader, a one-man-army like Maradona was in 1986. And he always played in Barcelona with a monster midfield behind him never challenging himself somewhere else. But at the last chance he finally became the leader he was always expected to be, and carried Argentina on his shoulders (and on his penalty kicks  ) , you gotta hand it down to him.

[Kwyjibo]

And he didn't need the "Hand Of God". 

[gzarruk]

I think what made this win even better is the fact the Mbappe said not too long ago that us South Americans aren't as advanced as Europeans at Football.

Poetic

[DragonAttack]

I thoroughly enjoyed this tournament, and the writings from the knowledgeable fans such as MirrorMask.

Yesterday was frickin' unbelievable from a simple sports fan perspective. One of the best ever.  All the gut punches that Argentina had to withstand.  After the lost 2-0 and 3-2 leads, Messi almost getting yet another game winner when tied at 3, and then the late save......I kept waiting for this thing to go to extra PKs when it had become 3-1.

Meanwhile, if we were still doing a caption contest, I know what I would have put up today!