2022 FIFA World Cup Final

The 2022 FIFA World Cup Final was the last game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is a big competition for men's national football teams held by FIFA. The match took place at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, on 18 December 2022, which is Qatar's National Day. Argentina and defending champions France were the teams playing in the final. It was watched by 88,966 fans in the stadium, and an astonishing 1.5 billion people watched it on TV, making it one of the most-watched sports events ever. The tournament had 32 teams, including the host country Qatar and 31 others who qualified through competitions organized by FIFA. They first played in groups, and then 16 teams made it to the knockout stage.

2022 FIFA World Cup Final

Event	2022 FIFA World Cup
Argentina France 3 3
After extra time Argentina won 4–2 on penalties
Date	18 December 2022 (2022-12-18)
Venue	Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail
Man of the Match	Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Referee	Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Attendance	88,966
Weather	Partly cloudy 22 °C (72 °F) 64% humidity[1][2]
← 2018 2026 →

In the lead-up to the final, Argentina did well in Group C, with a loss to Saudi Arabia but wins against Mexico and Poland. In the knockout stage, they defeated Australia, the Netherlands, and Croatia. France, on the other hand, topped Group D with wins against Australia and Denmark, and a loss to Tunisia. They beat Poland, England, and Morocco in the knockout rounds to reach the final.

During the final, Lionel Messi scored a penalty in the 23rd minute to give Argentina the lead. Ángel Di María later scored another goal in the 36th minute. Kylian Mbappé scored twice in the 81st minute to equalize for France. During extra time, Messi scored again to give Argentina a 3-2 lead. Mbappé scored another penalty to tie the game 3-3 just minutes before the end. Eventually, Argentina won the penalty shoot-out 4-2, securing their third World Cup title and their first since 1986.

It was a memorable final, with Argentina becoming the second team to win the World Cup after losing their first game. France scored three goals in the final but still lost, a first in World Cup history. Lionel Messi was named the man of the match and received the Golden Ball award for being the best player in the tournament. Many experts and fans consider this match as one of the greatest World Cup finals and one of the best matches in football history.^[3]

Venue

See also: Lusail Iconic Stadium

The final will be played in the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail, which is around 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of the city centre of Doha.^[4] The stadium was planned to host the final as part of Qatar's World Cup bid,^[5] and was confirmed as the final venue on 15 July 2020.^[6] Nine other matches, six group stage and three other knockout games will also be played at the stadium.^[7]

The Lusail Iconic Stadium, owned by the Qatar Football Association, was built because of Qatar's winning bid for the World Cup. The stadium was designed by British firm Foster + Partners and Populous,^[8] supported by MANICA Architecture.^[9] The stadium will be cooled using solar power and will have a zero carbon footprint.^[10] Construction started in April 2017,^[11] and was supposed to finish in 2020. But, the construction of the stadium was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ended up finishing in November 2021.^[12] There still has not been a game played in the stadium.^[13]

Route to the final

Further information: 2022 FIFA World Cup

Argentina		Round	France
Opponents	Result	Group stage	Opponents	Result
Saudi Arabia	1–2	Match 1	Australia	4–1
Mexico	2–0	Match 2	Denmark	2–1
Poland	2–0	Match 3	Tunisia	0–1
Group C winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Argentina 3 6 2  Poland 3 4 3  Mexico 3 4 4  Saudi Arabia 3 3 Source: FIFA		Final standings	Group D winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  France 3 6 2  Australia 3 6 3  Tunisia 3 4 4  Denmark 3 1 Source: FIFA
Opponents	Result	Knockout stage	Opponents	Result
Australia	2–1	Round of 16	Poland	3–1
Netherlands	2–2 (aet) (4–3 p)	Quarter-finals	England	2–1
Croatia	3–0	Semi-finals	Morocco	2–0

Match

Details

Argentina	3–3 (a.e.t.)	France
Messi  23' (pen.), 108' Di María  36'	Report	Mbappé  80' (pen.), 81', 118' (pen.)
Penalties
Messi Dybala Paredes Montiel	4–2	Mbappé Coman Tchouaméni Kolo Muani

18 December 2022 (2022-12-18)

18:00 AST

Lusail Stadium, Lusail

Attendance: 88,966

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

Argentina

France

GK 23 Emiliano Martínez  120+5' RB 26 Nahuel Molina  91' CB 13 Cristian Romero CB 19 Nicolás Otamendi LB 3 Nicolás Tagliafico  120+1' DM 24 Enzo Fernández  45+7' CM 7 Rodrigo De Paul  102' CM 20 Alexis Mac Allister  116' RF 10 Lionel Messi (c) CF 9 Julián Álvarez  102' LF 11 Ángel Di María  64' Substitutions: MF 8 Marcos Acuña  90+8'  64' DF 4 Gonzalo Montiel  116'  91' MF 5 Leandro Paredes  114'  102' FW 22 Lautaro Martínez  102' DF 6 Germán Pezzella  116' FW 21 Paulo Dybala  120+1' Manager: Lionel Scaloni

GK 1 Hugo Lloris (c) RB 5 Jules Koundé  120+1' CB 4 Raphaël Varane  113' CB 18 Dayot Upamecano LB 22 Théo Hernandez  71' CM 8 Aurélien Tchouaméni CM 14 Adrien Rabiot  55'  96' RW 11 Ousmane Dembélé  41' AM 7 Antoine Griezmann  71' LW 10 Kylian Mbappé CF 9 Olivier Giroud  90+5'  41' Substitutions: FW 12 Randal Kolo Muani  41' FW 26 Marcus Thuram  87'  41' FW 20 Kingsley Coman  71' MF 25 Eduardo Camavinga  71' MF 13 Youssouf Fofana  96' DF 24 Ibrahima Konaté  113' DF 3 Axel Disasi  120+1' Manager: Didier Deschamps

Man of the Match: Lionel Messi (Argentina)[14] Assistant referees: Paweł Sokolnicki (Poland) Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland) Fourth official: Ismail Elfath (United States) Reserve assistant referee: Kathryn Nesbitt (United States) Video assistant referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland) Assistant video assistant referees: Juan Soto (Venezuela) Kyle Atkins (United States) Fernando Guerrero (Mexico) Stand-by video assistant referee: Bastian Dankert (Germany) Stand-by assistant video assistant referee: Corey Parker (United States)

Match rules[15] 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Maximum of fifteen named substitutes Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time[note 1] Maximum of one concussion substitution

Notes

1. Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.