Kylian Mbappe became just the second man to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final, but it was not enough, with Lionel Messi winning the battle of the PSG superstars thanks to his brace for Argentina.
It was the definition of a see-saw affair as the South Americans went 2-0 up, before being pegged back late and dragged to extra-time. Messi’s second and Mbappe’s third took the game to penalties where Emi Martinez made a save, Aurelien Tchouameni fired wide and Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning strike.
Lionel Scaloni’s side completely dominated the vast majority of normal time, finding themselves two goals to the good at half-time through Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria and looking largely unruffled.
Di Maria won a penalty after being felled by Ousmane Dembele, which allowed Lionel Messi to slot home 23 minutes in, scoring his sixth goal of the competition.
Di Maria then netted himself, rounding off a stunning team move on 36 minutes which featured Messi, Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Rodriguez and will go down as one of the goals of the tournament.
80 minutes had passed before France even looked like a threat, but two goals in two minutes from Kylian Mbappe changed everything and took the game to extra-time. The second of his brace a memorable volley after a one-two with Marcus Thuram on the edge of the box.
The remarkable turnaround took the match to extra-time and Argentina were rattled, but they regained their composure as the added period began and Messi found the winner in the second half.
Substitute Lautaro Martinez was played through on goal but from a tight angle, producing a fine save from Hugo Lloris, but the rebound fell to Messi who poked home.
That looked to be it, but France were awarded a penalty when an Mbappe shot struck an Argentine arm and the prolific forward completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot, scoring his eighth of the tournament.
Then came the shootout, which begun with Mbappe and Messi finding the back of the net yet again, both scoring the first for their countries.
Kingsley Coman was next up for France and he saw his effort saved by Emiliano Martinez, while Aurelien Tchouameni made another mistake for the French, dragging his effort wide.
Gonzalo Montiel was the man to score the winning spot-kick for Argentina, who were perfect with their efforts.
