Argentina Beats France as Controversial World Cup Concludes

Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup, beating France in a penalty shootout 4-2 and giving soccer star Lionel Messi his first World Cup victory.

Key Quotes: “Let’s go, Argentina!” Messi said into a microphone as the team celebrated the win. Writing about Messi, a reporter in the New York Post determined that the “tournament will go down in history for an all-time player stating his case to be the best ever.” Similarly, a reporter for BBC News called Messi’s performance “another piece of evidence assembled in the argument that would have many declare him the game's greatest player.”

For Context: This is the third time Argentina has won the World Cup. The last time they won was in 1986. This is the first World Cup won by a non-European country since 2002 when Brazil beat Germany. The victory came despite a heroic comeback effort from France’s Kylian Mbappé, who scored all three French goals in regulation.

How the Media Is Covering It: The World Cup Finals is being covered heavily across the spectrum. Many outlets are speculating how Argentina’s win will impact Messi’s historical standing among the greatest to ever play the sport. The game marks the end of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which has been filled with controversies regarding the host country’s social conservatism, accusations of bribery, and reports of mistreatment and deaths among the migrant workers employed to build the infrastructure necessary to host the World Cup tournament.