DOHA : What a finale to the Qatar World Cup…This could be the best ever witnessed in football history. Not saying that there have not been high-class contests before, but this one was unique in many ways and will be remembered for providing solutions to many debates.

Legendary Pele summarised the World Cup in one Instagram post as he wrote, “Today, football continues to tell its story, as always, in an enthralling way. Messi winning his first World Cup, as his trajectory deserved. My dear friend, Mbappe scoring four goals in a final. What a gift it was to watch this spectacle to the future of our sport. And I couldn’t fail to congratulate Morocco for the incredible campaign. It’s great to see Africa shine. Congratulations Argentina! Certainly Diego is smiling now.”

Only a few days before the final I opined on the final being a contest between two M’s (Lionel Messi and Kyliane Mbappe) and truly so, it was a contest that will remain in our hearts for years to come.

The Qatar edition of 2022 might have been controversial to start with, but has finally become the most memorable with goals and records galore and also individual highs and lows.

The hallmark has been the excellence of legendary Messi and classy Mbappe, both of them rewriting records at will and proving their worth.

The Argentine settled the debate on GOAT factor with Cristiano Ronaldo and the French young man who turns 24 on Tuesday (December 20) signaling that he has firmly put his foot into the boat of future legends.

For Messi, it is ‘Mission Accomplished’ and for Mbappe, who became the only the second hat-trick scorer in a World Cup final, it would have been a disappointment, but this young man knows very well that the doors of future stardom are still open.

Mbappe’s hope of emulating Pele’s achievement of winning two consecutive World Cups too went up in smoke…but I felt he was indeed the most majestic of the two Ms

Messi on the other hand invoked the spirit of Diego Maradona to realise his dream of laying his hands on the golden pennant.

 “We suffered a lot, but we managed to do it,” Messi was quoted as saying after the final. It is natural for him to say so as Argentina did not have an easy passage into the final, especially starting off with a shocking defeat against Saudi Arabia.

What an emotional moment was it when Messi caressed the trophy and when he embraced his mother and kids, who were seen on the ground to soak in the triumphant atmosphere?

Meanwhile, French coach Didier Deschamps was all praise for Mbappe saying that he has left his mark on the final.

Definitely so, as it was his blitzy brace and another one in extra time that electrified the final and extended it to a nail-biting shootout. With eight goals, he took home the prestigious Golden Boot trophy.

Now that the sun has set on the Qatar edition, it is for sure every football fan will be talking about the exploits of Messi and Mbappe (both incidentally teammates at Paris St Germain club) for many years to come and there will be no football history without mentioning their names.

Do you know:

This was the second straight final which saw six goals being scored. In the 2018 final (Russia) France and Croatia churned out a 4-2 verdict.