Lionel Messi departed PSG on a disappointing note in the summer of 2023. Despite winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he was victim to plenty of jeers from the PSG fans. He joined Miami on a free transfer on a two-and-a-half-year contract on July 15 2023, and has since gone on to become their record goal-scorer.
During the 2022 World Cup, Messi and Argentina came up against Kylian Mbappe’s France in the final in Qatar. France were also the defending champions, having beaten Argentina in the Round of the 16 during their title run in Russia. It was a see-saw battle as Argentina went all guns blazing right from the start, taking a 2-0 lead in the first-half as Messi converted a penalty and Angel di Maria completed a fine team move.
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It looked like Argentina were cruising to an easy win, but Mbappe had other plans, and levelled proceedings in the space of two-minutes. First, the Frenchman converted a penalty in the 80th-minute, and then scored an exquisite volley in the 81st. The match ended as 2-2 in regulation time. During extra-time, Argentina went 3-2 ahead, with Messi converting a tap-in in the 108th-minute. Once again it looked like the CONMEBOL side would come out on top, but France once again received a penalty in the 118th-minute, which Mbappe converted with ease to complete his hat-trick.
France almost avoided the shootout as Kolo Muani went one-on-one against goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the final minute, but his attempt was saved. During the shootout, Argentina goalkeeper Martinez reigned supreme, saving the shots of Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman in a 4-2 shootout win.
{{/usCountry}}France almost avoided the shootout as Kolo Muani went one-on-one against goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the final minute, but his attempt was saved. During the shootout, Argentina goalkeeper Martinez reigned supreme, saving the shots of Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman in a 4-2 shootout win.
{{/usCountry}}During a recent interview on French television, Mbappe was asked about the World Cup final, and how he reacted to Messi’s presence in PSG training after the loss. “After the World Cup final, when I saw Messi at PSG training, I was still so angry. But he told me I had already won it before, and now it was his turn. I was furious, but you respect it because it’s Messi. We broke the ice by laughing together because we had fought a battle. We created memories from the final. I think that final brought us closer together.”
“I learned very lot from him. Messi does everything well. You can learn everything from a guy like that. I used to go up to him and ask him, ‘how do you do this? how do you do that?’.”
Mbappe also departed PSG during this year’s summer transfer window and joined Real Madrid, ending a long transfer saga. But his arrival in Spain hasn’t gone according to plan, as he has faltered in the centre-forward, a change from his usual left-wing position.