With ten minutes left of the 2022 World Cup Final in Lusail, Argentina led France 2-0 and the trophy looked settled. Kylian Mbappé had other plans.
He scored twice in 97 seconds. First a penalty, then a thumping volley after a knockdown, and suddenly the final was level and heading for extra time. Argentina went ahead again. In the 118th minute Mbappé stepped up for another penalty and made it 3-3.
That completed a hat-trick in a World Cup Final. Only one man had done it before him, Geoff Hurst in 1966.
Mbappé's night in numbers
- France were 2-0 down with ten minutes to go
- two goals in 97 seconds, a penalty and a volley
- the third, another penalty, came in the 118th minute of extra time
- the match finished Argentina 3-3 France, with Argentina winning on penalties
The volley in particular belongs among the best goals ever scored in a final. The whole performance is a strong candidate for the finest individual display a World Cup Final has seen, and that is before you consider the result.
Because the result went against him. Argentina won the shootout and Mbappé walked off with a runners-up medal and three goals in the bag. He had dragged France back from the brink twice in one evening, with little help from anyone, and it still was not enough. It is one of the stranger things football does: three goals in the biggest match on earth, and the losing dressing room at the end.
Heartbreak and heroics in equal measure, which is why it sits at number 12.
Tomorrow's pick: number 11.
