Argentina are World Cup winners for the third time having walked the elimination tightrope in every game of the tournament following their opening loss to Saudi Arabia, and surviving the ultimate challenge of a France side that pushed them all the way to penalties in the final.
Lionel Scaloni’s side could not have been better primed to lift the trophy heading in, regarding both form and destiny: Copa America holders on a 36-game unbeaten run, it was simultaneously their first chance to honour Diego Maradona on the world stage following his passing, and final chance to ensure Lionel Messi could be held in the same regard.
The Saudi loss could be written off as an anomaly, but from there it had to be business time. All of Mexico, Poland, Australia and The Netherlands presented unique challenges but none tested the mettle like France, fuelled by the phenomenal Kylian Mbappe, who would make Argentina ‘win’ the final three times over.
‘It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions the whole tournament. After the first game defeat to Saudi, Argentina could have had their World Cup dream ended at any point; every match was a final, as they like to say’, The Guardian’s Marcela Mora y Araujo told Box2Box, shortly after the final at Lusail Stadium.
‘So, to finally win it… there was that moment when the last penalty kick was taken and they realised it had happened, everyone had to do a double-take. You can see manager Scaloni waiting, pausing before he crumpled, and a lot of people around the stadium and television sets had that same reaction: a ‘wait, are you sure’, pause and a reflection.’
Memories of Maradona’s 1986 Mexico City party remain so firmly part of World Cup history that it can be easy to forget it came over 36 years ago. Eight years prior, La Albiceleste’s maiden triumph on home soil came under the nation’s military dictatorship government, led by Jorge Rafael Videla.
Both mark such strong memories for the Argentine public of certain generations for varied reasons, and that Lionel Messi & co. have written another chapter of the same significance might take some time to fully grasp.
‘For those of us who have been privileged and lucky enough to live through three, it’s a combination of remembering the other two World Cup wins, who was around, and where we were. They were very different, the 1978 one played here is an extraordinarily poignant memory for those of us who lived through it.
‘Then there’s a whole generation of children and young adults who have only known the Messi years, they don’t have the [historical] baggage. They see it and experience it as something that’s deserved after so many finals, Copa America finals for just one won, the 2014 World Cup final.
‘For them it was really the culmination of a project they’ve witnessed. I felt that sense very strongly in the streets, of young people for whom this is their joy and relish. For older people, although it’s amazing and beautiful and incredibly moving, there’s also the knowledge that life does actually go on exactly as it did before after winning a World Cup. It doesn’t actually, really make a difference to anything. It’s just a party and a bit of joy for a while.’