Four reasons why Argentina won

While Argentina‘s teams with more star power failed to go all the way, the 2022 unit had something special in store for them. Lionel Scaloni’s side have lost just one of their last 43 international matches (W29, D13) and have done so by sticking to a simple formula – play hard and let Messi do the job.
A long wait ended on Sunday night when Argentina lifted the World Cup for the third time (after 1978 and 1986), 36 years after their last victory. Only Italy (44 years between 1938 and 1982) had a longer gap between winning the two World Cups. While Argentina’s teams with more star power failed to go all the way, the 2022 unit had something special in store for them. Lionel Scaloni’s side have lost just one of their last 43 international matches (W29, D13) and have done so by sticking to a simple formula – play hard and let Messi do the job. Here are the four factors that led to the win.
A hungry, revitalized Messi will make Qatar 2022 known as Messi’s World Cup, just as 1986 was for Diego Maradona and 1958 was for Pele. When Argento was cruising, he skillfully blended into the background. When they were desperate, he provided magic. And when they were down, they provided inspiration. It was Messi playing for Argentina and Argentina, as he hasn’t always played for them in the past. Only two players have scored 5+ goals and created 20+ chances in a FIFA World Cup tournament (since detailed records first began to be maintained in 1966): Diego Maradona in 1986 and Lionel Messi in 2022. He played in all seven games, making a tournament leading 2.8 chances per game, scoring 7 goals and also had 3 assists. It was a tournament full of Messi moments – the vision, the goal, the subtle talent, the outrageous turn. If you needed a reminder of who the best player on the planet is, you’ve certainly found it.
Combination of youth and experience
If you’re too young, nerves become a factor. If you are too old, you cannot put in the work. But Argentina have found the right balance – the average age being 27.9. Messi, 35, walked a lot during the World Cup, only sparking to life when he absolutely needed to. To allow him to play like this, Coach Scaloni needed to pack the team with younger players who would share the workload. Gonzalo Montiel (25), Cristian Romero (24), Nahuel Molina (24), Lisandro Martinez (24), Rodrigo De Paul (28), Alexis McAllister (23), Enzo Fernandez (23), Julian Alvarez (22) and Lautaro Martinez (25) gave Argentina the legs that would allow Messi and other senior professionals to work their magic. Angel Di Maria (34) and Nicolas Otamendi (34) provided the team with the required strength to win the title at crucial times.
Superior break-up play
France and Argentina should have been very evenly matched. Both the teams love to counter attack and both had a star leading their attacks – Kylian Mbappe and Messi. But for the first 65 minutes of the final, it looked like only one side came out to play. The 2018 champions finally found their first shot on target after 67 minutes. Much of this was what De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Tagliafico and others were doing. This Argentine outsmarted the French and did not allow the ball to pass to them. They cut off supply lines from Antoine Griezmann to Embappé and forced France coach Didier Deschamps to make changes much earlier than he expected. Argentina recognized that they needed to get stronger to win the title. Temperament helps but if you keep leaking goals, you will often find yourself in trouble.
a wall named amy
Till the end of the World Cup final, Emiliano Martinez was the name on everyone’s lips. The Argentine keeper sharpened his mind in the penalty shoot-out to help his team win what is possibly the best World Cup final ever. As Aurélien Tchoumeni went up for his turn on the spot, Martínez rolled the ball away from the Real Madrid midfielder, forcing him to go up to collect it. Choumeni then smiled but it was enough to unsettle him and he pulled the ball wide. Martinez responded with a little dance to the miss. Of course, France would have already won the match but for a superb save by Martínez 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 Finalsima and now the 2022 World Cup.