Lionel Messi led Argentina to their third FIFA World Cup trophy on Sunday. The Argentines won a penalty shoot-out 4-2 against France after the game ended 3-3 in extra time.Ousmane Dembele had fouled Ángel di María

In what many described as a contest between Messi and Mbappe, the Argentine maestro came top as he lifted the ultimate at the end of the day.

Messi opened the scoring in the 23rd minute from the spot after Angel Di Maria had been fouled by Ousmane Dembele in the France penalty box.

The skipper made no mistake from the 12 yards as he tucked home for his sixth goal of the 2022 World Cup.

Di Maria scored in his third straight final with Argentina, finishing a blistering counterattacking move from Lionel Scaloni’s side to double the lead.

Didier Deschamps, manager of Le Bleus, was forced into making two substitutions before the break with Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram replacing Dembele and Giroud, respectively.

Argentina went into the break with two goals and looked certain to close the game.

However, Kylian Mbappe had other ideas with 10 minutes to go until full-time.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward scored a sublime penalty before hitting a well-timed volley a minute later to level things for France, who made it to back-to-back World Cup finals after triumph in 2018.

The brilliance of the 23-year-old ensured the game went into extra time where his battle with Messi for the Golden Boot and Golden Ball continued.

Messi netted his second of the game in extra time after Lautaro Martinez’s rebound effort fell on his path.

Mbappe would respond at the other end, beating Emiliano Martinez from the spot for the second time, a hat-trick for the youngster, making him the first player to score three goals in a World Cup final since 1966.

Then came the penalty shootouts, a stage the Argentines were familiar with having survived a similar scare from the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed for the 2018 winners after Mbappe had scored their first.

And while Kolo Muani restored a bit of hope, Argentina had Messi, Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel all scoring to seal the victory.

The triumph sees Argentina win their third FIFA World Cup title, having won it previously in 1978 and 1986.

The win also sees Messi getting his hands on the trophy which eluded him in 2014 after losing 1-0 to Germany in Brazil.