CNN World News Actuality Presented By Claire Evren Lionel Messi wins the Golden Ball award

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CNN World News Actuality Presented By Claire Evren Argentina wins the 2022 World Cup

Lionel Messi wins the Golden Ball award

After his team’s triumph in the World Cup final, Argentina legend Lionel Messi was awarded the Golden Ball, the prize given to the best player in the tournament.

Messi becomes the only player in World Cup history to win the Golden Ball twice. He also won it in 2014.

 

Messi and Kylian Mbappé, 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.

Mbappé 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 – awarded to the tournament’s top scorer – but fell agonizingly short in his effort to single-handedly retain the trophy for France.

 

Aged just 23, Mbappé’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.

But for all the history Mbappé 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.

 

Messi magic: Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi dazzled in his last World Cup match, scoring twice, making tournament history and finally hoisting the trophy.

An inspired comeback: Led by superstar Kylian Mbappé, France made a stunning comeback to force the final to extra time. Mbappé ended the match with a hat trick.

The race for the Golden Boot — the award for the player who scores the most goals in the tournament — hung in the balance heading into Sunday’s clash between Argentina and France.

With his first-half goal on a penalty kick, Argentina’s Lionel Messi pulls one ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappé.

6 goals

Lionel Messi (Argentina) (3 assists)
5 goals

Kylian Mbappé (France) (2 assists)

4 goals

 

 

 

 

Award roundup: Here’s who took home the top prizes at the 2022 World Cup

The most important hardware for any player at a World Cup is the championship trophy, but some other prestigious honors were also handed down on a stage at Lusail Stadium after today’s final.

Here’s a roundup of the winners:

Mbappé hat trick helps him edge out Messi for the Golden Boot


The race for the Golden Boot — the award for the player who scores the most goals in the tournament — hung in the balance heading into Sunday’s clash between Argentina and France.

 

Fans who were hoping for some excitement in that contest were not disappointed. The lead changed hands multiple times in a back-and-forth finale.

With his first-half goal on a penalty kick, Argentina’s Lionel Messi pulled one ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappé.

But Mbappé answered with two goals in the span of about 90 seconds in the second half, leapfrogging the legend in the tournament goal count.

One behind going into extra time, Messi tied Mbappé’s total again with a go-ahead goal in the second period.

But yet another equalizer late in extra time gave Mbappé eight goals for the tournament and finally secured him the honor.

Here’s where things stood when the final whistle blew:

8 goals

Kylian Mbappé (France)
7 goals

Lionel Messi (Argentina)
4 goals

Julián Álvarez (Argentina)
Olivier Giroud (France)

Next up: The 2026 World Cup in numbers

Matches for the 2026 World Cup will be held in 11 US cities as well as three host sites in Mexico and two in Canada, soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, announced.

The 16 host cities will be: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

FIFA officials will decide at a later date which of the 16 cities will host group play and which will host elimination round matches.

The 2026 men’s World Cup will be the first edition to feature 48 teams, and it is the first time matches will be played in three countries.

It will be the second time the US has hosted the World Cup after the first in 1994, and a record third time for Mexico, which also hosted in 1970 and 1986. It will be the first time a men’s World Cup match has been held in Canada, though the country did host the Women’s World Cup in 2015.

“We congratulate the 16 FIFA World Cup Host Cities on their outstanding commitment and passion,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a news release. “Today is a historic day – for everyone in those cities and states, for FIFA, for Canada, the USA and Mexico who will put on the greatest show on Earth. We look forward to working together with them to deliver what will be an unprecedented FIFA World Cup and a game-changer as we strive to make football truly global.”