Argentina’s maestro emulated Diego Maradona in leading his country to the World Cup and complete his collection of titlesLionel Messi completed football here, the greatest story ever told. The 26th and last match of his World Cup journey was the final to end all finals, a moment that’s never been equalled before and probably never will be again. So wild that none of it made any sense until he was standing there waving to the stands smiling, and then it all did. It was hard to comprehend what he and they had gone through – an entire career, the most accomplished of all, packed into one absurd evening – but there was closure at last.It was done. The world had...
Striker exploded into life to drag his side back into the contest – but the madcap game was proof that France’s plan had failedIt was never part of the plan for Didier Deschamps to unveil a gambler’s instinct. France’s manager reads from a pragmatic playbook. When he was putting the finishing touches to his tactical preparations for this contest, Deschamps never could have imagined that Kylian Mbappé would have been standing over a penalty with two minutes of extra-time remaining, readying himself to rescue France for a second time and become the first player to score a hat-trick in a men’s World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966.Everything had spiralled out of control, Argentina’s emotion trumping French cool....
Before Sunday’s World Cup final, the striker has become part of a proud lineage who broke cover on the biggest stageThe oddity of this Argentina side is that it arrived in Qatar having gone 36 games unbeaten and yet has still found itself making it up as it went along. For once there seemed no questions about selection. There were few doubts about how Argentina should play or who should play up front with Lionel Messi, even after the injury to Giovani Lo Celso. There was a sense of stability and a quiet confidence. They had won the Copa América last year. There was no need to change anything. Then they lost to Saudi Arabia.Argentina are habitually poor starters at...
There has not been a single conviction and yet nothing changes with metaphorical bedsheets dutifully shielding the suspectsTwo days out from the World Cup final, Qatar finishes hosting its tournament having very recently been declared “a frontrunner in labour rights”. “Today,” the declaration in question continued, “the World Cup in Qatar is proof of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historic transformation of a country.”It feels only mildly unfortunate that the member of the European parliament who uttered these words three weeks ago is currently detained by Belgian police, after the discovery of almost €1m in banknotes in her marital home and a hotel room used by her father. After all, this has been a successful World Cup. Qatar has...
Too often, those in charge of Fifa and Uefa have put gain above the common good. Diversity and equality must be defendedA World Cup works always and everywhere. There is nothing like it – and it is a diverse event. Eleven men or women are actively involved on both sides, even up to 17 due to the new rule with substitutions. All continents take part, and Sunday’s finalists Argentina lost in Qatar to a country from Asia – Saudi Arabia – and almost had to go into extra time against Australia. Thanks to Morocco, Africa – alternatively Arabia – made it to the semi-finals for the first time.At a football tournament, the world negotiates how it wants to live together....