Twitter reacts as Argentina lift World Cup in all-time classic final
By Henry Burt

One month, 63 matches and 30 eliminated teams later, the big moment had finally arrived: the World Cup final.
Plenty of interesting narratives were at stake in the clash between Argentina and France. Could Lionel Messi seal his status as the undisputed GOAT by winning the one trophy that has eluded him for his entire career? Or would France win back-to-back World Cups, becoming the first team to do so since 1962 and cementing Kylian Mbappe as the most successful 23-year-old footballer in history?
This was a game that had the whole world's attention, meaning Twitter was abuzz with activity before, during and after it.
Of course, all eyes were on Messi, who broke the record for most appearances at the men's World Cup and had his eyes on a first-ever World Cup win of his own.
We're all Lionel Messi fans tonight. Vamos ๐ฆ๐ทโค๏ธ #FIFAWorldCup
โ Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) December 18, 2022
Lionel Messi has now made 26 World Cup appearances. He has made more appearances in World Cup games than any other player in the history of the competition.
โ Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 18, 2022
All leading up to this. ๐ pic.twitter.com/bGV2Rfwqjr
Mind you, Messi wasn't the only one celebrating a milestone in this match - there was reason for France captain Hugo Lloris to be cheerful too.
History for Hugo Lloris ๐๐ซ๐ท
โ FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 18, 2022
With today's start for France, Lloris now has the most FIFA World Cup starts by a men's goalkeeper ๐งค pic.twitter.com/qUbdl9MyJq
Argentina dominated the opening 20 minutes as France dropped into their standard low block, and were rewarded for their persistence when Ousmane Dembele clumsily brought down Angel Di Maria in the penalty area. There was some debate over whether it was a foul, but truth be told Dembele was naรฏve to give the referee a decision in the first place.
Step forward Lionel Messi, who calmly rolled the resulting spot-kick home to score his sixth goal of this World Cup.
Penalty Argentina!
โ Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) December 18, 2022
Di Maria has bought that.
โ Carl Anka (@Ankaman616) December 18, 2022
Dembele was a fool for selling it.
1-0 Argentina, Messi slots it
โ Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) December 18, 2022
He is currently the top scorer
LIONEL MESSI FROM THE SPOT TO GIVE ARGENTINA THE LEAD IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL!
โ ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 18, 2022
IT'S HIS FIRST-EVER GOAL IN A MAJOR TOURNAMENT FINAL. pic.twitter.com/VyJbxfoT7H
Lionel Messi is the first player to record 20 goal involvements in the #FIFAWorldCup (counting goals all-time and assists since 1966).
โ Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) December 18, 2022
He has scored in the quarter-final, semi-final and final in Qatar. #ARG
France had already given themselves an uphill battle - and it was about to get a whole lot worse.
Less than 15 minutes after the opening goal, Argentina made it 2-0 with a gorgeous counter-attack from back to front. This time, Di Maria was on the end of the final ball to fire past Lloris and put La Albiceleste in cruise control.
#FifaWorldCup #Qatar2022
โ The Field (@thefield_in) December 18, 2022
Argentina lead by two goals in the first half! ๐ฅ What a move that was with Angel Di Maria finding the back of the net ๐#ARG vs #FRA:https://t.co/B8zXIOKxIQ pic.twitter.com/DSIXLnVY9X
Look what is means to Di Maria ๐ฅบ
โ BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) December 18, 2022
He was in tears after scoring in the World Cup final ๐
๐ฆ๐ท 2-0 ๐ซ๐ท#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup
Tears of agony after losing the World Cup final in 2014 vs Tears of ecstasy after doubling Argentina's lead in the World Cup final in 2022 ๐ฆ๐ทโค๏ธ #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/2uIUAIInfR
โ Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) December 18, 2022
With France in danger of collapsing entirely, many were quick to hark back to the rumours of a bug sweeping the French camp in the build-up to the match.
What's French for lasagne-gate?
โ Football365 (@F365) December 18, 2022
France needs to employ my favorite post-defeat defense, โsorry, we all had diarrheaโ
โ BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL (@edsbs) December 18, 2022
France were in full-on panic mode, and this was summed up by manager Didier Deschamps making a double change before half-time.
DOUBLE CHANGE ๐
โ Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) December 18, 2022
Dembele and Giroud off โ
Thuram and Kolo Muani on โ https://t.co/SGZ72SL6QH#ARG | #FRA | #FIFAWorldCup
As goes without saying, first time ever a team has made two subs before half-time in a World Cup final.
โ Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) December 18, 2022
All the previous ones (I think) were also injuries
Ousmane Dembele has done a great job resurrecting his career in 2022 only to undo it with the worst World Cup final performance the world has ever seen
โ Henry Burt (@30YearsofBurt) December 18, 2022
France looked shell-shocked at half-time. Did that really just happen? Were things really that bad?
As it turned out, the answer to both questions was a resounding 'yes'.
โ ๐ฑ๐:0๏ธโฃ
โ The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 18, 2022
โ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ:0๏ธโฃ
โ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ:0๏ธโฃ
โ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฑ:0๏ธโฃ
โ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ:0๏ธโฃ
โ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ ๐๐จ๐ฑ:0๏ธโฃ
โ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ:0๏ธโฃ#FRA's first half proves difficult reading for Didier Deschamps... pic.twitter.com/vaGQwrC54R
France worst first half of any finalist, including Bradford in the Capital One Cup, Iโve ever seen
โ Zak (@ZG1999_) December 18, 2022
The second half began with a much more cagey feel, France controlling the game a little more and denying Argentina as much space as they had in the first. But as we reached the hour mark, Les Bleus still hadn't registered a shot on target.
France haven't turned up yet ๐ฌ
โ BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) December 18, 2022
0โฃ shots
0โฃ touches in the opposition penalty area
65' ๐ฆ๐ท 2-0 ๐ซ๐ท#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup
I've had the same number of shots on goal in this World Cup final as France.
โ Jack Gallagher (@calciolovesjack) December 18, 2022
France have had zero shots after 62 minutes... ๐ฌ pic.twitter.com/p8arHwPsVH
โ SPORTbible (@sportbible) December 18, 2022
With 15 minutes of normal time to play, it was clear that a few fans had their eye on other things...
Need to get Mac Allister off.
โ Daz (@DarylTullett) December 18, 2022
Charlton away next week!!!
On the one hand, Alexis Mac Allister just dropped a masterclass in the biggest game of his career. On the other hand, the Valley can be an unforgiving ground to visit as an away side, so we can kind of see Daz's point here.
By the way, did we mention that France hadn't had a shot on target up to this point? Well, about that...
After a clumsy foul by Nicolas Otamendi inside the box, Mbappe stepped up to convert the subsequent penalty and hand France a lifeline. And then...
GOAL! ๐ฆ๐ท ARGENTINA 2 - 2 FRANCE ๐ซ๐ท (MBAPPE)
โ SPORTbible (@sportbible) December 18, 2022
Kylian Mbappe scores two goals in two minutes ๐ฅ๐ฅ #FIFAWorldCup
โ Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) December 18, 2022
This is EXACTLY what happens in Football Manager ๐คฃ
โ Out of Context Football Manager (@nocontextfm1) December 18, 2022
**the sound of an entire World Cup Final press tribune, deleting their entire match report**
โ Meg Swanick (@Meg_Swanick) December 18, 2022
2 goals. 2 minutes. Kylian Mbappรฉ. ๐ซ๐ท๐คฏ pic.twitter.com/4tLIrPFWEG
โ EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) December 18, 2022
Itโs like weโve always said: where Wout Weghorst leads, Kylian Mbappe follows
โ Jack Pitt-Brooke (@JackPittBrooke) December 18, 2022
France had, miraculously, levelled the scores - and it all came down to the bravery Deschamps and his players showed in the face of a crushing defeat.
France played 4-2-4 for most of that second half. Bold from Deschamps, going for it paid off. He is carrying on in 4-2-4 for extra time.
โ Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) December 18, 2022
4 of the last 5 men's FIFA World Cup Finals have now gone to extra time ๐ pic.twitter.com/yrrDKY74Yr
โ FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 18, 2022
So...this aged well ๐๐ https://t.co/SpE7cDBMIH
โ Bet9ja (@Bet9jaOfficial) December 18, 2022
15 minutes into extra time, these two heavyweights looked no closer to being separated. Could either side find a winner? Or would Countryfile fans be left heartbroken once again?
The World Cup to BBCโs 6pm Countryfile slot: pic.twitter.com/yVRtoBcIY4
โ Football Ramble (@FootballRamble) December 18, 2022
But there was (eventually) good news for fans of the other great programming available on the BBC, as Messi struck in the second half of extra time to send Argentina fans delirious.
GOOOOATTTTTTTT
โ Billie (@Billie_T) December 18, 2022
Lionel Messi has taken back the spotlight from Kylian Mbappe.
โ The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 18, 2022
He puts Argentina in front to spark pandemonium in the stadium and across the world.#ARG lead #FRA 3-2; you wouldn't rule out another twist in the time that remains.
๐ฅ @BBCSport pic.twitter.com/kRETJpahIJ
UNBELIEVABLE!! LEO MESSI!!#BBCWorldCup #FifaWorldCup pic.twitter.com/A3mQGyV3yb
โ BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 18, 2022
JUST LOOK AT WHAT IT MEANS TO MESSI AND DI MARIA! pic.twitter.com/A4RFPmllxU
โ ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 18, 2022
Now, you're probably wondering if this is the end of the story, and whether I was able to submit my article after this and get some well-earned rest.
Reader, I was not. Enter Mbappe - again.
Simply incredible. #FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/5ia2birSn3
โ FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022
A hat-trick for Kylian Mbappe as he makes it 3-3 for France! #FIFAWorldCup
โ Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) December 18, 2022
LIVE: https://t.co/06dSj66BmS
The greatest sport in the world.
โ Scott Saunders (@_scottsaunders) December 18, 2022
The match went to penalties, and at this point it hardly even mattered who won anymore. We were witnessing an unprecedented, mesmerising moment of complete footballing chaos.
This was quite possibly the greatest match our game has ever given us, and after 120 minutes most of us just felt lucky to be watching. France might have lost on the day, but in truth both sides were winners for delivering the most thrilling spectacle we may ever see in the sport.