Lionel Messi ends debate to become football's greatest ever player after lifting FIFA World Cup trophy with Argentina, in pics

Lionel Messi's once-in-a-generation career is complete. The Argentina superstar is finally a FIFA World Cup champion

PTI

Messi scored two goals and then another in a shootout as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties Sunday to claim a third World Cup title despite Kylian Mbappé scoring the first hat trick in a final in 56 years

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Now there's no debate. Messi is definitively in the pantheon of foootball's greatest ever players, alongside Pele — a record three-time World Cup champion from Brazil — and Diego Maradona, the late Argentina great with whom Messi was so often compared

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Messi has achieved what Maradona did in 1986, dominate a World Cup for Argentina

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Messi put Argentina ahead from the penalty spot and played a part in Angel Di Maria's goal that made it 2-0 after 36 minutes

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Mbappe scored two goals in a 97-second span to take the game to extra time, and then Messi tapped in his second goal in the 109th minute

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But there was still time for another penalty from Mbappé to take the thrilling game to a shootout

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Gonzalo Montiel scored the clinching penalty kick after Kingsley Coman had an attempt saved by Emi Martinez and Aurelien Tchouameni missed for France

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Europe's run of four straight World Cup winners came to an end. The last South American champion was Brazil, and that was also in Asia — when Japan and South Korea hosted the tournament in 2002

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Argentina won its previous World Cup titles in 1978 and 1986. In Qatar, the country backed up its victory from last year's Copa America, its first major trophy since 1993

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