Messi finally leads his team to the mountaintop as Argentina wins FIFA World Cup

Argentina celebrates after winning the World Cup.
(Image credit: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The dream finally came true for soccer icon Lionel Messi, who on Sunday led his team to a 4-2 victory in penalty kicks over France to secure Argentina's first FIFA World Cup championship since 1986.

The game was dominated by Argentina early, with Messi scoring on a penalty kick early in the match to put the Argentines up 1-0. They would score again to go up 2-0 heading into halftime. In the second half, though, rising French superstar Kylian Mbappé, who had been quiet on the pitch up until that point, decided to turn things around with a penalty kick of his own that cut the deficit to 2-1.

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Justin Klawans, The Week US

 Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other Hollywood news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.