Argentina fans disturb reporter celebrating World Cup win
02:05
– Source:
CNN
Editor’s note: Amy Bass is a professor of sport science at Manhattanville College and the author of One Purpose: The Coach, the Team, and the Game That Brought Together a Divided City and Not Triumph, But Struggle: The 1968 Olympics and the Game. The Making of the Black Athlete” among other titles. The views expressed here are his alone. Read more opinion from CNN.
American sports fans, if you don’t love soccer right now (and yes, you can call it that – the whole “soccer versus soccer” thing is just silly and unfit for global society), you may not have any hope.
Argentina’s victory over defending champions France in the men’s World Cup final at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Sunday was a clash between two of the world’s most powerful soccer cultures. And it didn’t just deliver: It set up possibly the greatest championship game in sports history.
The World Cup is coming to North America in 2026, so even if you missed Sunday’s clash of soccer titans, you’ve got four years to catch up on why this epic match is an example of soccer’s greatness and power. a truly global conversation about sport as a tool for inspiration and transformation.
Even before the first touch, the most obvious narratives of this final were already written. Many had reduced it to Lionel Messi versus Kylian Mbappé, positioning the Paris St-Germain (owned by Qatar Sports Investments) teammates as the GOAT and heir apparent, with Messi likely to be in the last dance while Mbappé is already the champion. four years ago when he was just 19, he still has a long way to go.
For most of the match, Messi seemed to grasp the one thing missing from his illustrious career, almost casually scoring a penalty in the 20th minute. With France looking to have almost no control over the game, a second goal soon went in Argentina’s favour. Messi’s touch on the transition followed, setting up a beautiful sequence – considered by best-selling author and football pundit John Green to be one of the greatest works of art our species has ever produced – which allowed Ángel Di María to tap the ball into the net.
But France, or at least Mbappé, was not done – becoming the first male player since England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat-trick – three goals by one player in one game – in a World Cup final, even as France came into the game. short.
And yet, as exciting as that final was, it’s not the only story of this World Cup, a tournament that was as much about the future as it was about Messi. In the minutes leading up to the start of the final, all the juxtapositions, contradictions and inconsistencies surrounding this tournament should have been exhausted, but took a final spin with the recorded voice of LGBTQ icon Freddie Mercury (who died of complications from AIDS). 1991) rousing the pre-game crowd in a country known for its LGBTQ campaigns.
Indeed, it’s worth repeating that this World Cup has had a lot that hasn’t been pretty, including the thousands of migrant workers who The Guardian reported died while turning a country with little soccer culture into an airy land. air-conditioned stadiums. (Qatar’s World Cup chief acknowledged in a British TV interview a much smaller but still sobering 400-500 migrants preparing the Gulf states for the event.)
More tragic losses followed – football writer extraordinaire Grant Wahl – both a high-profile figure in the industry and a genuinely nice guy – and Qatari photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam.
Yet there was beauty to be found in this controversial and grief-stricken World Cup, especially the story of Morocco. The Atlas Lions’ run, with a trip to the semi-finals against France, made it a first and only on many levels as they marched through a masterclass in post-colonial history – Belgium, Spain, Portugal – to inspire an enduring Pan. -Arabian spirit.
Just as Croatia announced itself to the world four years ago, Morocco is just getting started, the country’s investment in football is bearing fruit lush and deep. When Morocco fell to Croatia in Saturday’s third-place match, it was in many ways its tournament, with fans flocking to Qatar in such numbers that Qatar Airways canceled flights on the morning of its semi-final in hopes of containing the overwhelming surge.
However, while the team of the tournament was Morocco, Messi was its top figure, his merchandise outselling Taylor Swift tickets, which crashed Adidas stores around the world. His global superstardom has helped keep football front and center amid all the chaos that has surrounded Qatar’s World Cup for the past 12 years.
He wasn’t quite ready to stay in the sport’s rearview mirror, but he laid the groundwork for what an international soccer star could look like, play and be for over a generation, including his impending retirement. “Through it all, Lionel Messi has defied the machismo of Argentine soccer in his own tender way,” noted historian Brenda Elsey recently in The New York Times. “Football stadiums are part of a sexist ecosystem where misogyny and homophobia are commonplace; organized fans called “barras bravas” have created terrible conditions during games. Messi has rejected this violence. …”
This positioning of Messi is just in time for next year, when the World Cup has women’s championships in New Zealand and Australia and early ticket sales are already making headlines.
While the U.S. men’s team excelled in Qatar, reaching elimination after failing to qualify four years ago and receiving its first World Cup paycheck under US Soccer’s new collective bargaining agreement that focuses on equal pay, the U.S. women will look to defend their title after defeating the Dutch in 2019 for their fourth World Cup i crown.
But growing global interest in the women’s game means it won’t be easy for the Americans to stay at the top, as their dynasty faces worthy challengers from a host of teams, including former champions Japan, Germany and Norway, as well as Sweden, Brazil and China.
Their success is key to continuing to shift America’s notorious apathy toward the beautiful game. Despite soccer consistently driving TV ratings, merchandise and ticket sales, Americans’ disdain for it remains real, keeping the sport outside the realm of the “big three” — football, baseball, basketball — despite the thousands of kids who hit the field each year. weekend, spring and fall, the growing crowds of Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League, and the loyal fan base of “Ted Lasso.”
Accusations that soccer is boring, that “flopping” players are ridiculous, that timekeeping is confusing, and that the offside rule makes no sense create a divide between those who think soccer has finally arrived in the United States and those who say it has. football has arrived. not and never will.
That the relatively low scoring of football games seems to be the main complaint of many (especially those who ignore the mathematics involved in the game of American football) shows the gap in understanding of football that remains in the United States. Scores are low because, well, soccer is hard—a fluid game played on vast expanses of green, with players maneuvering a small ball with grace, patience, and strength while running and moving miles almost constantly.
Has Argentina ever won World Cup?
It’s crucial for Americans to wrap their collective heads around this, not only to cheer on the US women’s team next year, but also because in just four years, the men’s World Cup is coming to 16 cities across North America. Read also : Dean Trombino joins The Desert Sun as a sports intern. Most of the matches are hosted by the United States, with cities in Canada and Mexico also playing.
The microscope placed on Qatar, its people and politics, with detailed and reasoned conversations about sports and greenwashing, shifts to the United States, where issues of reproductive health restrictions, carbon footprints and the world’s overwhelming governing bodies matter. gun violence is in tension with freedoms, like the recent reinforcements around same-sex and interracial marriage — a symbol of how messy and chaotic the home of the free, the land of the brave, can be.
How many World Cup Finals has Argentina been in?
And whether it’s called soccer or football (and really, again, it could be both), one thing is clear, no matter what England fans chant: nobody’s bringing anything home. After the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it’s now clearer than perhaps ever that the world – the whole world – is home to the most popular game. So, Americans—whether women next year or men in 2026—better prepare. They don’t have to like it. But they should understand it. And it won’t be easy. Because football is hard.
Has Argentina won a World Cup with Messi?
Lionel Messi won the trophy after Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup by beating France 3-3 on penalties. On the same subject : Stop arguing over fourth pit decisions, the worst debate in sport right now: Let’s meet at Logo. Argentina won their first World Cup since 1986.
What Cup did Argentina win?
When was the last time Argentina won? Argentina last won the FIFA World Cup in 1986, defeating West Germany 3-2 in the championship round. This may interest you : 10 challenging video games anyone can learn to beat.
What are 4 goals called in soccer?
Since their formation in 1902, the Argentina national team has participated in six FIFA World Cup finals, including the inaugural final in 1930, 1978 (when the team won their first World Cup), defeating the Netherlands, in 1986 (they won their second World Cup). after the defeat of West Germany), 1990, 2014 and 2022 (when …
Lionel Messi has led Argentina to World Cup glory after the most thrilling final in the tournament’s 92-year history. Argentina took the lead through Messi and Angel Di Maria, but Kylian Mbappe struck late on.
What is 3 goals in soccer called?
In what is likely to be the wildest final in the tournament’s 92-year history, Argentina won their third World Cup title, beating France 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw that resulted in two goals and a hat-trick from 35-year-old Messi. a stunt by his heir apparent, France forward Kylian Mbappé.
How many FIFA has Argentina won?
A brace and a hat trick are the most commonly used phrases to describe a player who scores multiple goals. However, there are also less used and less official terms, the more goals a player scores. Four goals scored by a single player in a match can be described as a strike, while five is unofficially a surplus.
What is the name of scoring four goals in hockey? What is the name of scoring four goals in hockey? Scoring four goals in a hockey game is far less common than a hat trick. When a player scores four field goals in one game, it is sometimes called the “Texas Hat Trick.” This term is less commonly used than hat trick and its origin is uncertain.
How many FIFA did Argentina win?
Hat-trick A player gets a hat-trick when he scores three goals in one game, but the use of the term didn’t really start on the football pitch. The phrase originates from cricket and was used when a bowler took three wickets in three consecutive balls.
