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Lionel Messi won the FIFA World Cup Golden ball for the second time after beating France in the summit clash on Sunday at Lusail Stadium, Doha. Messi ran the show for Argentina at the age of 35 and led Argentina to their third World Cup title. Messi, earlier won the golden ball in the 2014 World Cup but it was a bitter-sweet moment for him at that time as his team lost to Germany in the final.
Messi had a memorable World Cup campaign in Qatar as he netted 7 goals and provided three assists to light up the tournament and revived Argentina’s campaign after their shock defeat in the opener against Saudi Arabia.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Points Table | FIFA World Cup 2022 Schedule | FIFA World Cup 2022 Results | FIFA World Cup 2022 Golden Boot
Messi scored twice in the final in Doha, taking his tally of goals at the tournament to seven, and also scored in the shoot-out as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties following a 3-3 draw after extra time.
Kylian Mbappe came second to Messi for that award but did win the Golden Boot for the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals.
Luka Modric came third in the running for the best player after helping Croatia finish third.
The 35-year-old is the most iconic figure in the Argentine dressing room and his teammates fought hard for him throughout the tournament and their skipper stood for them in every match.
On Sunday, Messi held his nerves in the crucial moment and send Hugo Lloris the wrong way to put the ball in the net.
It was Angel Di Maria who won the foul for Argentina in the penalty box after Ousmane Dembele pushed him. Messi looked calm and composed before taking the crucial kick as France’s captain Lloris failed to read it right in the 23rd minute of the game.
While he scored another crucial goal for his team in the extra time to give them a lead which was eventually cancelled out by Kylian Mbappe.
Messi took the first shot in penalty shootouts for Argentina and he netted it comfortably.
Messi also becomes the first player to score a goal in the round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup.
The win on Sunday allowed Messi, at 35, to complete his glorious career by emulating Diego Maradona, and this will be remembered as his tournament despite the best efforts of Mbappe, who finished as the tournament’s top scorer on eight goals, one more than his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Messi.
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