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GOAT debate settled?
Lionel Messi netted a brace to help Argentina lift their first FIFA World Cup trophy in 36 years, with the victory proving to be the cherry on top of the 35-year-old's glistening career.
The Paris Saint-Germain man finished one goal behind France's Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race on seven and took home the tournament's Golden Ball for the second time in his career, having previously sadly accepted the award in Brazil 2014 following a 1-0 loss to Germany in the final.
The awards added to a long list of team and individual achievements for the Argentina captain, which currently includes seven Ballon d'Ors, 11 domestic league titles and four UEFA Champions League titles in a career spanning 793 goals across 1003 appearances.
In the moments after La Albiceleste's penalty-shoot-out success, many came to the conclusion that the decades-long greatest-of-all-time player debate between Messi and Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo was now settled in light of the latter still trailing the former Barcelona man on Ballon d'Or honours (five), domestic league titles (seven) and career assists, with 234 compared to Messi's 350.
With Messi clinching the coveted trophy, his generational counterpart in Ronaldo is still yet to do so and appears unlikely to before retirement, having notoriously fallen out of favour with both club and country in recent times and approaching 41 years of age by the 2026 tournament.
While the infamous debate will likely never be settled, Messi's success at Qatar 2022 will likely add significant weight to the argument that the South American maestro is the GOAT.
Mbappe shatters goalscoring records
Mbappe almost single-handedly steered France to a second straight World Cup title after an outstanding showing in the tournament's 2022 showpiece.
The 23-year-old scored two goals in as many minutes to overturn Argentina's two-goal deficit and send the match into overtime, before adding a third in the dying moments of added time to enforce a penalty shootout.
The Paris Saint-Germain man smashed the previous record of two goals scored by a single player in a World Cup final, surpassing Brazilian Ronaldo's 2002 record of 12 minutes between goals, but touched another milestone with his third as he became only the second player in history to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final after England's Geoff Hurst in 1966.
He also joined Brazil’s Vava, Pele, Germany's Paul Breitner and Zinedine Zidane as one of only five players to score in multiple World Cup finals, following his stunner in the 2018 final against Croatia.
The forward also came close to achieving two other milestones, now being just one goal off Just Fontaine's French national team record of 13 goals and getting within reach of Miroslav Klose's record of 16 goals in 24 World Cup matches, with his tally at 12 goals in 13 matches.
Deschamps' substitutes nearly turn the tide
Faced with a two-goal deficit nearing half-time, French boss Didier Deschamps clearly took no prisoners with the rather brutal 41st-minute substitutions of Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele, in light of the lack of attacking threat supplied by the duo during the opening minutes of the match.
However, it was the youthful reinforcements of Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani in place of the two forwards that injected some much need life into the French attack, with the latter winning an 80th minute penalty after being brought down by Nicolas Otamendi, while the former assisted Mbappe's second just moments later after a clever one-two with the Golden Boot-winner.
Another dual substitution in the 71st minute saw both Kingsley Coman and Eduardo Camavinga make an immediate impact, with Coman quelling all doubts about the seemingly premature substitution of Antoine Griezmann with the dispossession of Messi that led to the second goal.
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Although it was ultimately not to be for Deschamps' men, the managerial masterstroke proved just why he has steered Les Bleus to three major tournament finals since taking the reigns in 2012.
Martinez heroics win Golden Glove
Although Argentina's Emiliano Martinez faced some stiff competition for the best goalkeeper award at Qatar 2022, namely from Croatian shot-stopper and two-time shoot-out hero Dominik Livakovic, the Aston Villa gloveman sealed the award with a clutch save in the dying minutes of extra-time to stop a certain goal, as well as denying French substitute Coman in the shoot-out with a terrific outstretched save.
Martinez's win in the category contributed to a near sweep for Argentina at the awards ceremony, with Mbappe's success in the Golden Boot proving the only non-Argentinian awarded out of the four major categories.
Messi's second Golden Ball-win of his career was complemented by 21-year-old Enzo Fernández taking out the best young player award, with the Benfica midfielder a standout in the star-studded side. He scored the decisive goal against Mexico in the second Group C match, as they went on to win 2-0.
