As the curtain came down on what was a fantastic, full of twists, turns and surprises tournament, we’re giving you the Betfinal FIFA World Cup Finals 2022 in Qatar summary. We hope your World Cup betting journey was full of success and that all our tips and analyses helped you become the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar betting champion. Let’s have a closer look at the past World Cup 2022 events, and the famous battle between Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.

 

The Final: Argentina vs France 

 

Argentina survived an incredible France comeback in one of the most remarkable World Cup finals ever. ‘La Albiceleste’ won their third crown (earlier in 1978 and 1986) 4-2 on penalties after a breathtaking 3-3 draw at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar.

 

The South American heroes were seemingly set to roll to a third World Cup crown as Lionel Messi (PSG) and Angel Di Maria (Juventus) scored inside the opening first half, with a characterless France having no answer to Argentina‘s undisputed supremacy.

 

However, a sudden, unexpected brace from Kylian Mbappe (PSG) approaching the final 10 minutes of the match incredibly drew France level to force additional 30 minutes. This was when Messi claimed his second goal of the game before another Mbappe penalty saw the teams finish tied after a fascinating 120 minutes.

 

Argentina held their nerve from 12 yards, as Kinglsey Coman (Bayern Munich) and Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid ) fluffed their chances before Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla) scored the deciding goal to end the 1978 and 1986 World Cup winners’ 36-year wait for another Golden Trophy in the cabinet.

 

France established a reputation of a team content to sit back and hit their opponents on the counter-attacks in the current World Cup, but such a strategy proved totally ineffective against the well-drilled Argentinian machine.

 

Argentina – Road to the Final

 

Group Stage

 

Argentina – Saudi Arabia 1:2

Argentina – Mexico 2:0

Argentina – Poland 2:0

 

1/8: Argentina (C1) – Australia (D2) 2:1

 

1/4: Argentina (C1) – Netherlands (A1) 2:2 (4:3 pen)

 

1/2: Argentina (C1) – Croatia (F2) 3:0

 

Final: Argentina (C1) – France (D1) 2:2 (3:3) (4:2 pen)

 

France – Road to the Final

 

Group Stage

 

France – Australia 4:1

France – Denmark 2:1

France – Tunisia 0:1

 

1/8: France (D1) – Poland (C2) 3:1

 

1/4: France (D1) – England (B1) 2:1

 

1/2: France (D1) – Morocco (F1) 2:0

 

Final: France (D1) – Argentina (C1) 2:2 (3:3) (2:4 pen)

 

3rd Place Match: Croatia (F2) – Morocco (F1) 2:1

 

FIFA World Cup 2022: Golden Ball, Golden Boot, Golden Glove, Young Player – complete list of all award winners

 

Golden Ball Winner – Lionel Messi Argentina

Seven goals, three assists, a sensational tournament, great form, and a huge impact on the team on and off the pitch. Undisputedly, this was Lionel Messi‘s World Cup. By the way, the brilliant Argentine broke a whole series of incredible records with his performances.

 

Record number of appearances and minutes on the pitch

 

Let’s start with the fact that Lionel Messi played at the World Cup for the fifth time and finally won the championship title, completing his legacy as the best footballer ever. In total, Messi has played a staggering 26 games in 5 World Cups – an all-time record.

 

On top of that, Messi also holds the record for playing World Cup games as a team’s captain, with a total of 19, ahead of Rafa Marquez (17) and Diego Maradona (16). He also holds the record for the number of minutes played at World Cups, with 2314. In the final against France, he beat the famous Italian Paolo Maldini, who had 2217 minutes under his belt.

 

Record of goals scored

 

In Qatar, Messi also became the first-ever player to score in the group stage, 1/8 final, quarter-final, semi-final and the Final in a single tournament. However, he did not finish all his matches with a goal. Messi failed to beat Polish goal-keeper Wojciech Szczesny in the group stage. However, he had the perfect opportunity to do so as he took a penalty kick.

 

Record of awards won

 

This is still not the end of his incredible achievements. Messi also became the only footballer in the history of the World Cup to win the best player of the match award as many as five times.

 

Finally, one last unbelievable accolade. Lionel Messi is the only player in history to be named the best player of the World Cup for the second time. His previous FIFA Golden Ball award was in 2014, for the World Cup in Brazil, where Argentina failed to win against Germany in the final.

 

Lionel Messi FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar – statistics

 

Lionel Messi	Goals	Assists	Shots	Shot on Target	Passes	Crosses	Tackles
Argentina vs France (extra-time and penalties)	2	0	5	4	54	6	2
Argentina vs Croatia (90 minutes)	1	1	2	2	40	2	0
Argentina vs Netherlands (extra-time and penalties)	1	1	6	2	45	2	0
Argentina vs Australia (90 minutes)	1	0	6	2	58	1	1
Argentina vs Poland (90 minutes)	0	0	7	4	70	1	1
Argentina vs Mexico (90 minutes)	1	1	2	1	41	3	1
Argentina vs Saudi Arabia (90 minutes)	1	0	4	3	40	5	0
Total	7	3	32	18	348	20	5

 

However, it is not only Lionel Messi‘s outstanding performances that we will remember from this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar. There is no denying that he had a worthy rival against him both throughout the tournament and in the final match – Kylian Mbappe.

 

Golden Boot Winner – Kylian Mbappe France

Kylian Mbappe‘s performance, although ending in a bitter penalty shootout defeat, will also be memorable. Mainly because he became the second player in history to score a hat-trick (three goals) in a World Cup Final encounter. The last time this was done was by Geoff Hurst in 1966.

 

In addition, he scored his tenth, eleventh and twelfth goals in the final in just 14 matches he has played at the World Cup so far. That is already more than legendary French footballers Thierry Henry, who scored six, and Zinedine Zidane, who achieved five in his career. The overall tournament record is held by Miroslav Klose (Germany), who notched up 16 goals in 24 matches across four tournaments.

 

On top of that, Mbappe is the youngest player ever to surpass the magic 10 goals at a World Cup.

 

In addition, Mbappe became the unassisted leader regarding the number of goals in the World Cup Final encounters. He already has four of them to his credit. Furthermore, only 97 seconds elapsed between Mbappe‘s first and second goals against Argentina, which is also a record for final matches.

 

At just 23-years-old, Kylian Mbappe is well on his way to transitioning from potential superstar to all-time great.

 

Kylian Mbappe FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar – statistics

 

Kylian Mbappe	Goals	Assists	Shots	Shots on Target	Passes	Crosses	Tackles
France vs Argentina (extra time and penalties)	3	0	6	3	21	3	0
France vs Morocco (90 minutes)	0	0	3	1	16	0	0
France vs England (90 minutes)	0	0	1	0	27	1	0
France vs Poland (90 minutes)	2	1	5	3	35	5	0
France vs Tunisia (Subbed on at 63′)	0	0	3	2	23	2	0
France s Denmark (90 minutes)	2	0	6	4	31	9	0
France vs Australia (90 minutes)	1	1	7	1	47	9	0
Total	8	2	31	14	200	25	0

 

Golden Glove Winner – Emiliano Martinez (Argentina)

Unlike in some other competitions where the Golden Glove is awarded based only on the number of clean sheets, the World Cup Golden Glove is decided by a vote among experts.

 

Those experts, appointed by FIFA, decided that Emiliano Martinez (Argentina) deserved the award more than Moroccan keeper Bono, French Hugo Lloris or Croatian Dominik Livakovic. It was a tough call, and any of those four goal-keepers earned the prize. Unfortunately, only one can be chosen.

 

In doing so, Martinez became the first South American player to be voted the best goalkeeper of the World Cup.

 

Young Player Winner – Enzo Fernandez (Argentina)

The midfielder for Portuguese Primeira Liga club Benfica, 21-year-old Enzo Fernandez, was part of the engine room in the ‘Albiceleste’ side. He gave Lionel Messi the luxury of choosing when to contribute. The cooperation between these two was just brilliant.

 

Fernandez played in all seven of Argentina’s games in Qatar and beat off competition from players such as Goncalo Ramos (Portugal), Aurelien Tchouameni (France) and Jude Bellingham (England). The Argentine youngster only made his international debut in September this year but forced his way into the starting eleven in Qatar after coming off the bench and scoring an unbelievable goal in the 2:0 win against Mexico in the group stages.

 

Enzo Fernandez led all players for successful passes (77) and tackles (10) in the World Cup Final match against France. His ten tackles were the most of any player in a World Cup Final since Gennaro Gattuso (Italy) in 2006 (15).

 

Now, let’s have a look at the teams that disappointed us the most and the ones that made us thrilled. Betfinal picks:

 

Biggest Group Stage Disappointment

 

Germany, Belgium, Denmark

 

Biggest Group Stage Surprise

 

USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea

 

Biggest Group Stage Sensation

 

Morocco

 

Biggest Round of 16 Disappointment

 

Spain

 

Biggest Round of 16 Sensation

 

Morocco

 

Biggest Quarter Final Disappointment

 

Brazil

 

Biggest Quarter Final  Surprise

 

Croatia

 

Biggest Quarter Final  Sensation

 

Morocco

 

7 emerging players – revelations of the FIFA World 

 

1). Kylian Mbappe (France) – forward (PSG)

2). Enzo Fernandez (Argentina) – midfielder (Benfica)

3). Julian Alvarez (Argentina) – forward (Manchester City)

4). Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) – midfielder (Fiorentina)

5). Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco) – midfielder (Angers)

6). Dominik Livakovic (Croatia) – goal-keeper (Dinamo Zagreb)

7). Josko Gvardiol (Croatia) – defender (RB Leipzig)

 

Betfinal starting 11 of the FIFA World Cup Finals 2022 in Qatar

 

1). Emi Martinez (Argentina) – goal-keeper (Aston Villa)

2). Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) – defender (Paris Saint-Germain)

3). Nicolas Otamendi (Argentina) – defender (Benfica)

4). Josko Gvardiol (Croatia) – defender (RB Leipzig)

5). Lucas Hernandez (France) – defender (Bayern Munich)

6). Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) – midfielder (Fiorentina)

7). Rodrigo De Paul (Argentina) – midfielder (Atletico Madrid)

8). Antoine Griezmann (France) – midfielder (Atletico Madrid)

9). Luka Modric (Croatia) – midfielder (Real Madrid)

10. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – forward (PSG)
11. Kylian Mbappe (France) – forward (PSG)

 

The unrivalled fever of the World Cup only comes once every four years, bringing many first-time bettors to the sport. Now, our eyes will be set on Canada, USA and Mexico, where the 23rd FIFA World Cup takes place in 2026. Before that happens, we have plenty of exciting sports events coming our way in 2023 – the Champions League Finals, Europa League, and all the national leagues’ battles, including English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Franch Ligue 1, Italian Seria A etc., all laid down at your doorsteps here at https://betfinal.com

 

So, get ready for the new year 2023 and stay tuned for the upcoming games and the best betting tips at the Betfinal blog when the time rolls around.

 

Football online betting has never been more accessible, exciting and fun with Betfinal. We offer our players the best and most accurate betting odds to help you choose your best betting strategies possible.

 

Have fun and bet wisely with your favourite betting site, www.betfinal.com

 

Published: December 2022

By: Rafa