Argentina wins the 2022 World Cup

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage of Qatar 2022. Read more on the thrilling final between Argentina and France here, or scroll through the updates below.

Soccer fans in Buenos Aires celebrate their team's World Cup victory over France on Sunday.

This World Cup final was a game that seemed to defy comprehension, conventions and any attempt to describe it.

It was — as the world seemed to settle on in an attempt to sum it all up — simply the greatest final ever.

“Best World Cup Final ever,” Usain Bolt tweeted, alongside pictures of himself in an Argentina jersey at Lusail Stadium.

“We’re breathless up here. It was just an unbelievable final. It was a pleasure to be here. I’ve never seen anything like it and I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like it again. It was staggering,” former England international Alan Shearer said on the BBC.

Here are some of the other reflections from wowed spectators around the world:

French President Emmanuel Macron consoles France's Kylian Mbappé after the World Cup soccer match final against Argentina on Sunday.

Lionel Messi lifts the FIFA World Cup trophy with his teammates following their victory over France in the final match at Lusail Stadium on Sunday.

Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates were certainly made to suffer, but eventually they got their hands on the World Cup trophy Sunday, in arguably the greatest final of tournament history.

It’s a moment that will never be forgotten. Argentina’s heroic players could barely sum up their feelings after the full-time whistle.

Argentina's Rodrigo De Paul celebrates winning the World Cup final soccer match on Sunday at Lusail Stadium.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, who guided the team through highs and lows at Qatar 2022, was emotional after the match and struggled to hold back tears as his players embraced him.

“I cannot believe that we have suffered so much in a perfect game. Unbelievable, but this team responds to everything,” Scaloni said, per Reuters. “I am proud of the work they did. It is an exciting group. With the blows we received today, with the draws, this makes you emotional.

“I want to tell people to enjoy, it’s a historic moment for our country.”

Midfielder Enzo Fernandez was crowned the tournament’s best young player.

“It is a moment that I will never erase in my life,” he said, per Reuters. “Having the chance to win the World Cup with my country is priceless. Let’s take the cup and celebrate together.”

The 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy on display before a press conference at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on June 16.

Now the countdown begins to the next men’s World Cup in 2026.

It will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada. It will be the first time that the event has been held across three countries, and only the second time the United States will play host. Mexico will set a new record by hosting the championship event for the third time.

Here’s a look at some more of the numbers that will make the 2026 tournament unique (check it out in interactive format here):

More details, including locations for the opening and final matches, are still being determined.

Fireworks explode as Argentina's team receives the trophy at the end of the World Cup soccer match final at Lusail Stadium in Qatar on December 18.

Several international bodies have renewed sharp criticisms of Qatar and FIFA for glaring human rights abuses and the exploitation of migrant workers before and during the 2022 World Cup.

The World Cup final on Sunday coincided with both International Migrants Day and Qatar National Day. 

On Friday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino praised volunteers and organizers for staging the “best World Cup ever,” but activists and critics say Infantino’s comment ignores the sacrifices of migrant workers, who deserve compensation for unpaid wages, injuries and deaths.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Equidem, Migrant Defenders and other groups have all called on Qatar and FIFA to do more for the workers who delivered the 2022 World Cup.  

“These workers and their families deserve compensation, and we are still waiting for FIFA and Qatar to commit to ensuring remedy for everyone who made this World Cup possible,” Cockburn added.

Cockburn acknowledged that Qatar has instituted some labor reforms, but said that they don’t go far enough. Minky Worden, the director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, agreed.

“Even the labor reforms Qatar did make came too late, were too narrow in scope, or were too weakly implemented to benefit many workers,” she wrote in a blog post published Friday ahead of the World Cup final.

Qatar’s government says that over 30,000 foreign laborers were brought in to build the stadiums for the World Cup. Seven new stadiums for the World Cup rose from the desert, and the Gulf state expanded its airport, constructed new hotels, rail and highways. 

All were constructed by migrant workers, who — according to Amnesty International — account for 90% of the workforce in a near-three million population. 

Fans with flags and banners before the third place match between Croatia and Morocco at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar on December 17.

Matches for the 2026 World Cup will be held in 11 US cities as well as three host sites in Mexico and two in Canada, soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, announced.

The 16 host cities will be: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

FIFA officials will decide at a later date which of the 16 cities will host group play and which will host elimination round matches.

The 2026 men’s World Cup will be the first edition to feature 48 teams, and it is the first time matches will be played in three countries.

It will be the second time the US has hosted the World Cup after the first in 1994, and a record third time for Mexico, which also hosted in 1970 and 1986. It will be the first time a men’s World Cup match has been held in Canada, though the country did host the Women’s World Cup in 2015.

The most important hardware for any player at a World Cup is the championship trophy, but some other prestigious honors were also handed down on a stage at Lusail Stadium after today’s final.

Here’s a roundup of the winners:

Not familiar with the awards? The Young Player Award goes to a promising talent under 21 years old; the Golden Glove goes to the tournament’s best goalkeeper; the Golden Boot goes to the player who scored the most goals; and the Golden Ball goes to the overall top performer.

Argentina's Lionel Messi, left, and France's Kylian Mbappé.

The race for the Golden Boot — the award for the player who scores the most goals in the tournament — hung in the balance heading into Sunday’s clash between Argentina and France.

Fans who were hoping for some excitement in that contest were not disappointed. The lead changed hands multiple times in a back-and-forth finale.

With his first-half goal on a penalty kick, Argentina’s Lionel Messi pulled one ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappé.

But Mbappé answered with two goals in the span of about 90 seconds in the second half, leapfrogging the legend in the tournament goal count.

One behind going into extra time, Messi tied Mbappé’s total again with a go-ahead goal in the second period.

But yet another equalizer late in extra time gave Mbappé eight goals for the tournament and finally secured him the honor.

Here’s where things stood when the final whistle blew:

8 goals

7 goals

4 goals

After his team’s triumph in the World Cup final, Argentina legend Lionel Messi was awarded the Golden Ball, the prize given to the best player in the tournament.

Messi becomes the only player in World Cup history to win the Golden Ball twice. He also won it in 2014.

This will go down as one of the most thrilling finals in recent World Cup history.

View some of the best photos from a match to remember below, and check out CNN’s gallery from the entire tournament here.

Messi converts his first-half penalty.

Argentina players celebrate Messi's opening goal.

Angel Di Maria celebrates after giving Argentina a 2-0 lead.

Julian Alvarez, left, and Dayot Upamecano compete for a ball in the second half.

Messi tries to avoid a tackle from Upamecano.

France's Kylian Mbappe scores his second goal Sunday, tying the match at 2-2.

Mbappe scores a second-half penalty past Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Messi puts Argentina back on top in extra time.

Argentina players celebrate after Gonzalo Montiel scored the tournament-winning penalty in the shootout.

Messi celebrates the victory.

Messi, holding the Golden Ball trophy, kisses the World Cup.

Mbappe reacts after the loss.

Messi lifts the World Cup.

Lionel Messi celebrates Argentina's title.

The crowd packed into Lusail Stadium was dominated by Argentina fans Sunday, plus plenty of otherwise neutral supporters who threw their weight behind La Albiceleste in hopes of seeing soccer great Lionel Messi finally hoist the World Cup trophy.

They were not disappointed.

Sunday’s match in Qatar ended in glory for Messi, and played out as a fitting culmination of his extraordinary career.

Messi opened the scoring with a first-half penalty kick, making history as the first player to ever score in every stage of the tournament.

He scored again in the second period of extra time, buoying a shocked Argentina side that was still reeling from France’s lightning-fast comeback.

And when all the pressure was on the 35-year-old during a penalty shootout, the exhausted veteran coolly deposited the ball into the back of the net.

Not long after, Argentina’s talisman was celebrating with his teammates, and holding aloft a World Cup trophy that eluded him throughout a storied career.

The sublime finals performance moved Messi into the position of favorite for the Golden Ball award, which is given to the tournament’s best player.

It’s hard to imagine a better way to cap the World Cup career of a man many consider the greatest of all time.

Argentina players celebrate after winning the World Cup.

It took 90 minutes of regulation, 30 minutes of extra time and a penalty kick shootout to decide it — but Argentina is the 2022 World Cup champion.

It was the two superstars who stepped up first for their sides in the shootout. France kicked first and Kylian Mbappé, who had a hat trick in the game, blasted it by Argentina’s Emiliano Martínez.

Next up was the legend. Lionel Messi approached the spot and calmly rolled one in to tie it up.

That tit for tat exchange was fitting for a match where each side’s talisman turned in an inspired performance.

But after that, France missed their next two attempts to give Argentina a big advantage. And after Gonzalo Montiel made it four in a row for Argentina, it was over.

Going into the shootout, the two sides were tied at 3-3 after some truly epic moments of open play.

Messi’s two goals helped La Albiceleste capture their third World Cup and first since Diego Maradona led the team to glory in 1986 in Mexico.

The defending champion France was seeking to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cup titles in 60 years (Brazil 1958, 1962). 

Despite the loss, France’s Kylian Mbappé’s hat trick secured him the Golden Boot, awarded to the tournament’s leading goal scorer.

After 90 minutes of regulation and two 15-minute periods of extra time, France and Argentina are still deadlocked in this instant-classic World Cup final.

How it works: Each team will get the chance to take five penalty kicks, and whichever side scores the most wins.

⚽️ = success

❌ = no goal

France

Kick 1: ⚽️

Kick 2: ❌

Kick 3: ❌

Kick 4: ⚽️

Kick 5:

—

Argentina

Kick 1: ⚽️

Kick 2: ⚽️

Kick 3: ⚽️

Kick 4: ⚽️

Kick 5:

It looked like Lionel Messi had done it.

After a stunning second-half French comeback — thanks to two goals in about 90 seconds by young superstar Kylian Mbappé — France and Argentina went to extra time to decide the 2022 World Cup champion.

Early in the second period of extra time, Messi, who had already scored on a penalty kick in the first half of the game, took the ball on a rebound from a Hugo Lloris save and flicked it toward the goal. France’s defense managed to clear Messi’s offering off the line, but it had crossed over and Argentina was ultimately awarded the goal.

But it wouldn’t be enough. In the 116th minute of this epic final, France was awarded a penalty. Already having scored twice, Kylian Mbappé stepped up looking to tie the match yet again. And he did just that. It’s a hat trick for the 23-year-old.

It’ll now be penalty kicks to decide the champion at the 2022 World Cup. This is absolutely unreal.

Kylian Mbappe scores his penalty to tie the game at 3-3 in extra time.

But there is still time for another twist!

In the 116th minute of this epic final, France was awarded a penalty.

Kylian Mbappé stepped up looking to tie the match yet again. And he scored!

It’s a hat trick for the 23-year-old, as he coolly slots the ball into the net as if he had all the time in the world.

What a classic!

Argentina 3-3 France

Lionel Messi scores Argentina's third goal.

Messi the magician!

The legend got his second goal of the match and gave Argentina the lead in the second period of extra time.

And who else could it have been but Lionel Messi? He fed the ball to a teammate who hammered it toward the goal, but the French keeper Hugo Lloris parried the initial effort away. It fell to Messi’s feet, and he prodded the ball into the goal.

The stadium erupted in euphoria, and there was an even bigger cheer when Messi was confirmed as the scorer.

He’s now leading the race for the Golden Boot again, because he has the edge in assists, the award’s tiebreaker.

Argentina 3-2 France

CNN’s Don Riddell contributed to this report from inside Lusail Stadium.

Argentina and France are still tied 2-2 after the first 15-minute period of extra time at the 2022 World Cup final.

After a frantic first period, La Albiceleste had two opportunities to regain its lead, but the first ricocheted off France’s defense and the second slid wide of the goal.

The two sides will go another 15 minutes to see if either team can find a match-winning goal.

If neither side is leading after that, it’ll be a penalty kick shootout to decide the champ.

The Argentina fan in front of me at Lusail Stadium is cutting a pretty dejected figure right now.

For most of the match, he’s been on his feet, pumping his fists, singing the songs.

Now he tells me he’s “afraid” about what comes next. He’s slumped back into his chair.

“We should have killed the game off when we had the chance,” he told me. “I am not in a good mood.”

It’s all tied in extra time of an instant-classic World Cup final.

We’re now in extra time after a wild 90 minutes in Qatar.

Argentina and France are deadlocked at 2 goals apiece going into extra time.

Remember: The two sides will now play two 15-minute periods of extra time. If no team is leading after that, it’ll be a penalty kick shootout to decide the champ.

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez secures the ball late in the second half.

We’re heading to extra time in an instant-classic World Cup final.

Lionel Messi and Argentina built a 2-0 lead in the first half and appeared to be cruising to the title. But Kylian Mbappé had other plans.

The 23-year-old French superstar got two goals in under two minutes late in the second half to tie the game at 2-2. That’s where things stand after 90 minutes.

How extra time works: The two sides will now play two 15-minute periods of extra time. If no team is leading after that, it’ll be a penalty kick shootout to decide the champ.

Argentina 2-2 France