On Sunday, December 18, Argentina take on France at Lusail Stadium in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Final (6 PM Doha time, 4 PM CET). This celebration marks the end of the journey for all 32 teams.
This moment has led us to the final two teams, and their chance to make football history – when the winning team will light the sky as they lift the famous FIFA World Cup™ Trophy.
In front of a capacity crowd of 88,966, Argentina won 4-2 on penalties after a mesmerizing match ended 3-3 after extra time. Lionel Messi scored the opening goal in the first half with a penalty before Angel Di Maria doubled the advantage soon after following a sweeping counter-attack. Late in the game, Kylian Mbappe hauled France level with two goals — the first a penalty — to force extra time and give Les Bleus momentum.
Messi looked to have won the match when he forced the ball home after 108 minutes but Mpabbe completed his hat-trick with a second penalty soon after to force a shoot-out. Argentina was in control of the shoot-out throughout and completed victory with Gonzalo Montiel’s winning spot-kick.
It was the first time a final ended 3-3 and contained the second World Cup final hat-trick in history. The tournament set a record for the number of goals with 172.
Ahead of Sunday’s final, a stunning closing ceremony was held featuring a raft of stars, including Dana, Davido, Aisha, Manal, Balqees, Rahma, RedOne, Ozuma, Gims and Nora. A host of songs from the tournament’s Official Soundtrack were performed while 32 flying orbs paid tribute to each participating nation.
The final was the 64th match of the tournament, which got underway at Al Bayt Stadium on 20 November. More than 3.4 million tickets were sold for the matches, which were held at eight state-of-the-art stadiums, all located within an hour’s journey time of central Doha.
Qatar hosted the most compact edition of the FIFA World Cup in modern history, with fans reveling in the opportunity to attend more than one match a day during the early stages of the tournament. During the 29 days, Qatar welcomed more than 1.4 million fans to the country.
While fans enjoyed exciting football on the pitch, Qatar hosted a vast number of entertainment activations across the country, including the FIFA Fan Festival™ at Al Bidda Park, which welcomed more than 1.8 million visitors, and the Corniche Activation. The tourist attractions all provided an opportunity for fans to celebrate their shared love of football in what proved a beautiful exchange of cultures from across the globe.
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