Four reasons why Argentina won

A long wait came to an end on Sunday night when Argentina won the World Cup for a third time (after 1978 and 1986), 36 years since their last triumph. Only Italy (44 years between 1938 and 1982) had a longer gap between winning two World Cups. While Argentinian teams with far more star power failed to go all the way, the 2022 unit had something special going for them. Lionel Scaloni’s team has lost only one of its last 43 international matches (W29, D13) and they have done it by sticking to a simple formula — play hard and let Messi do his thing. Here are four factors that led to the triumph.

A hungry, reinvigorated Messi Qatar 2022 will be known as Messi’s World Cup, just as 1986 was Diego Maradona’s and 1958 was Pele’s. When Argentina were cruising, he expertly blended into the background. When they were desperate, he provided the magic. And when they were down, he provided the inspiration. This was Messi playing for Argentina and Argentina, as they haven’t always in the past, playing for him. Only two players have scored 5+ goals and created 20+ chances in a Fifa World Cup tournament (since detailed records started first being maintained in 1966): Diego Maradona in 1986 and Lionel Messi in 2022. He played all seven games, created a tournament-leading 2.8 chances in each game, scored 7 goals and had 3 assists too. This was a tournament studded with Messi moments — the vision, the goals, the subtle genius, the outrageous turns. If you needed a reminder of who the best player on the planet is, you surely would have got it.

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Mix of youth and experience

If you are too young, nerves become a factor. If you are too old, you can’t put in the work. But Argentina found the perfect balance — an average age of 27.9. Messi, at 35, walked a lot during the World Cup, only sparking to life when he absolutely needed to. To allow him to play that way, coach Scaloni needed to pack the team with youngsters who would share the workload. Gonzalo Montiel (25), Cristian Romero (24), Nahuel Molina (24), Lisandro Martínez (24), Rodrigo De Paul (28), Alexis Mac Allister (23), Enzo Fernandez (23), Julian Alvarez (22) and Lautaro Martinez (25) gave Argentina the legs that would allow Messi and the other senior pros to work their magic. Angel Di Maria (34) and Nicolas Otamendi (34) showed up at vital moments to provide the steel that the team needed in their run to the title.

Superior break-up play

France and Argentina were supposed to be very evenly matched. Both teams love to counter-attack and both had a star spearheading their attacks — Kylian Mbappe and Messi. But for the first 65 minutes of the final, it seemed like just one side had come out to play. The 2018 champions finally got their first shot on target after 67 minutes. Much of that was down to what De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Tagliafico, and others were doing. This was Argentina out-hustling the French and not letting the ball get to them. They cut off the supply lines from Antoine Griezmann to Mbappe and forced France coach Didier Deschamps to ring in the changes far earlier than he would have hoped to. Argentina recognised that to win the title, they needed to be solid. The flair helps but if you keep leaking in the goals, you will find yourself in trouble way too often.

A wall named Emi

By the end of the World Cup final, the name on everyone’s lips was that of Emiliano Martinez. The Argentina keeper ramped up the mind games in the penalty shoot-out to help his side win what is possibly the finest World Cup final ever. As Aurelien Tchouameni walked up for his turn at the spot, Martinez rolled the ball away from the Real Madrid midfielder, forcing him to have to walk over to collect it. Tchouameni smiled then but it was enough to disturb him and he dragged the ball wide. Martinez responded to the miss with a little dance. Of course, France would have already won the match but for a brilliant save by Martinez in the final seconds of extra time. Since making his Argentina debut in June 2021, he has helped Argentina win the 2021 Copa America, the 2022 Finalissima and now the 2022 World Cup.