Magnificent Messi finally gets closure

After 15 years of unparalled excellence in his career, the Argentinian superstar wins the trophy that he craved more than any other

- Dan Kilpatrick

Argentina 3

Messi 23 (pen), 108, Di Maria 36 

France 3

Mbappe 80 (pen), 81, 118 (pen)

ARGENTINA WIN 4-2 ON PENALTIES

AS Gonzalo Montiel begins his run-up, Lionel Messi glances to the heavens and seems to ask something of the deities above.

“Vamos Diego, dáselo,” Messi appears to say — at least according to delirious Argentines who have since poured over the footage.

“Come on Diego, give it to him.”

When Montiel’s penalty hits the net and the moment finally comes, the Argentina players around Messi begin sprinting towards the goal and their supporters, only to realise he is not with them.

Messi has instead sunk to his knees, again looking to the skies, alone for the briefest of moments before he is mobbed by his team-mates.

It felt appropriate that at the second of his triumph, the moment he has longed for above al l others and dreamed of since childhood, was spent alone and perhaps with the memory of Diego Maradona, the last man to almost single-handedly inspire Argentina to a World Cup in the year before Messi was born.

This was Messi’s night, and as he was paraded around the Lusail Iconic Stadium, holding the trophy aloft on the shoulders of his friend Sergio Aguero — who had travelled to Qatar to room with him on the night before the final — it inevitably conjured memories of Maradona being borne around the Azteca in 1986.

With his crowning triumph, Messi elevated his legend and finally emulated his idol, managing to do what Maradona never could by scoring in a World Cup final — not once but twice. On a night of the most breathless and scintillating drama, Messi secured his legacy and guaranteed his footballing immortality.