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Messi won the World Cup and the internet went BONKERS

MESSI!

Tim Marcin

on December 18, 2022

messi celebrating with screenshot of tweet

Messi! Credit: Catherine Ivill / Getty Images / Screenshot: Twitter / @rayhudson

An absolutely bonkers World Cup final has come to a close. It was the best and wildest World Cup match in memory. It was the best game I've seen in sports, period. There is no description too strong. In the end, Argentina won the 2022 final in Qatar on penalties, cementing the legacy of Lionel Messi, one of the greatest soccer players to ever do it.

All the while, the internet could not believe it, with everyone losing their collective mind for three hours. Here's the short breakdown of what happened:

Argentina dominated most of the match in regular time. Messi scored on a penalty in the 23rd minute. Angel Di Maria followed it up with a tidy finish in the 36th minute. It seemed like Argentina and the GOAT Messi would coast to the title. Nope.

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Enter France and superstar 23-year-old Kylian Mbappé. He scored on a penalty in the 80th minute then followed it up with a spectacular volley just a minute later. It was a total shocker and absolute brilliance from the French.

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It was already an unbelievable match. From there, the game got even more nuts. It was watching two teams hold on for dear life. France attacked, Argentina countered. Argentina attacked, France countered. Messi nearly won it all with a brilliant strike, that was just parried away by the French keeper. But into overtime, we went.

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In extra time, it was Messi who struck in the 108th minute. He slammed home a bouncing ball, surely securing the win. Nope. Because THEN, in the 118th minute, a handball from Argentina awarded a penalty, which Mbappe slammed home. And off to penalties we went.

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In penalties, Messi and Mbappe both scored to lead their teams off. But then France missed twice and Argentina was perfect, taking home the title 4-2 on penalties. There has never been a game like it.

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When the match ended, emotions ran high. Argentina fans cried. So did the French. People celebrated and felt joy for Messi, who finally achieved the one thing that eluded him in soccer. The tweets, too, were fantastic when the match ended.

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It was a fantastic match and one that will live on with fans for years to come.

Topics X/Twitter FIFA World Cup

Tim Marcin

Associate Editor, Culture

Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).