{"id":162019,"date":"2022-12-19T07:27:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T07:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lionel-messi-cements-his-place-among-the-greats-after-winning-epic-duel-against-kylian-mbappe\/"},"modified":"2022-12-19T07:27:07","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T07:27:07","slug":"lionel-messi-cements-his-place-among-the-greats-after-winning-epic-duel-against-kylian-mbappe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lionel-messi-cements-his-place-among-the-greats-after-winning-epic-duel-against-kylian-mbappe\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi cements his place among the greats after winning epic duel against Kylian Mbappe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \n Now there can be no arguments. Now there should be no debate.\n <\/p>\n \n In the most dramatic, nerve-shredding way imaginable, Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the World Cup and with it cemented his place in the pantheon of soccer greats, alongside Diego Maradona and Pel\u00e9.\n <\/p>\n \n The final was as good as soccer gets. A match for the ages with a fairytale ending.\n <\/p>\n \n Messi and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, the game’s two superstars went toe-to-toe in arguably the greatest World Cup final in history. Soccer may be a team game, but this was a prize fight between two players who will be remembered as all-time greats.\n <\/p>\n \n Mbapp\u00e9 scored a remarkable hattrick, making him just the second man in history to do so in a World Cup final, and won the Golden Ball \u2013 awarded to the tournament’s top scorer \u2013 but fell agonizingly short in his effort to single-handedly retain the trophy for France.\n <\/p>\n \n Aged just 23, Mbapp\u00e9’s astonishing performance further confirmed his status as the future of the sport. He has now scored four goals in World Cup finals, the most of any player in history, and he is level with Pele on a total of 12 World Cup goals. He has time to surpass all-time World Cup scorer Miroslav Klose on 16.\n <\/p>\n \n But for all the history Mbapp\u00e9 created on an intoxicating floodlit night in Doha, this was Messi’s final. The Argentine captain was not ready to hand over the torch just yet.\n <\/p>\n
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\n CNN<\/span>
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