FIFA World Cup (Men's)

The 10 best assists at the 2022 World Cup

Assists are often overlooked in favor of their more flashy and prominent neighbor, the goal. In many ways, they require more technique and ability than scoring a goal because finding the goal is easy. Knowing where to place a ball to find a teammate while avoiding defenders and keepers, and actually having the technical ability to do it, requires a soccer mind of the highest order. One of the greats, Andrea Pirlo, famously said, "Football is played with the head. Your feet are just tools."

Lionel Messi's career by the numbers

The following is a look at Argentina captain Lionel Messi's career by the numbers:

499 million

Global followers on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram (over 10 times the population of Argentina)

$120 million

Karim Benzema fully fit and ready for LaLiga restart — could he have made a difference in the World Cup final?

Karim Benzema is fully fit to get back into the club season.

After leaving France's World Cup squad in November due to an injury, Benzema has had a fairly quick recovery and has been training with normality the past week with Real Madrid. He even played in a friendly.

¡Dio resultado! La (casi) inadvertida cábala de Antonela Roccuzzo y los hijos de Messi durante el Mundial

Fue el Mundial de Messi. El GOAT cumplió su sueño de ser campeón del mundo con Argentina, en una performance difícil de olvidar, ganada por el talento sobrenatural que llevan sus pies, la conmovedora entrega de sus compañeros en el campo de juego y también el incondicional amor de su familia en las tribunas.

Messi: "I wanted to close my career with this, I can no longer ask for anything else"

LUSAIL, Qatar - As fireworks exploded and some 80,000 people roared, Lionel Messi smiled. His Argentina soccer shirt covered by the bisht the Emir of Qatar had just draped him in — the cape reserved for top officials and sheikhs. He smiled, he paused, then he hoisted high the World Cup, a lifetime’s dream realized.

For all the accolades, all the awards, the riches, titles and silverware, there had been one stain on his career resume, and it was one he erased forever on a magical World Cup night for Argentina.

Hat-trick y récords en la final del mundo – Kylian Mbappé se proclama como el heredero al trono

Francia se quedó con las manos vacías y sin poder convertirse en el primer bicampeón del mundo desde la Brasil de Pelé, luego de caer en penales frente a la Argentina del gran Lionel Messi.

World agrees that we've just witnessed the greatest World Cup final ever

For nearly 80 minutes it looked like the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final was going to be pretty straightforward. Lionel Messi and Argentina had dominated France and taken a 2-0 advantage, but Kylian Mbappé turned the game on its head over the final 10 minutes to force a thrilling extra-time period before a nerve-shredding penalty shootout.

In the end, it was undeniably the greatest World Cup final in the event's history. Argentina had played some thoroughly enjoyable football with 10 shots on target, but France made them suffer to earn a first title 1986.

Las selecciones con más títulos en la Copa del Mundo

Argentina rompió la sequía que traía desde 1986 y obtuvo la tercera Copa del Mundo de su historia, luego de vencer a Francia en la final de Catar 2022.

Argentina breaks the record for most penalty kicks awarded to one team at a World Cup

Argentina made history during the 2022 World Cup Final as they were awarded their fifth penalty kick of the tournament. The previous record was shared by the Netherlands in 1978 and Portugal in 1966 with four penalty kicks each. With his subsequent goal, Messi now is level on four goals with Eusébio and Rob Rensenbrink having scored the most penalty kicks in a single tournament. 

Emiliano Martínez shimmies, saves and secures Argentina’s World Cup with vital saves at the end

Emiliano Martínez didn’t have a single shot come toward his goal until the 71st minute. From that moment on he became one of the key figures in Argentina’s 4-2 penalty shootout victory vs. France in the World Cup final after the game finished 3-3 at the end of extra time.

Martínez was one of the most polarizing characters at the 2022 World Cup. His haters despise him for his gamesmanship, taunting and excessive celebratory body gyrations. Martínez’s critics have one other thing to deal with: he’s a DAMN good goalkeeper.

Pages