In the World Cup final against France, Di Maria, who started for the first time in this World Cup, won a penalty for Argentina, and Messi scored a penalty, breaking the curse of never scoring in a final in his national team career, and becoming the first player in World Cup history to score in all four knockout matches.
In the previous three knockout matches, Di Maria played a total of only 18 minutes. After missing the 2014 World Cup final, Di Maria started this time to make up for a regret eight years ago.
The media generally believe that Di Maria will play as a right winger in order to replace defense with attack and curb Mbappe's play. However, Scaloni has Di Maria playing as a left winger and attacking the left wing. This tactic of his had an unexpected effect.
In the 21st minute of the match, Di Maria's ball from the left burst into the box, only to be tripped by Dembele behind him, and the well-placed referee did not hesitate to award a penalty, although the French players surrounded the referee to express dissatisfaction, but the referee did not change his decision.
The referee's decision sparked some controversy, with well-known journalist Morgan saying, "It's not a penalty." Sky Sports reporter Sherider said: "It was a great moment for Messi, but it wasn't a penalty, right. It was foolish for Dembele to go to Dongle Di Maria, but Di Maria couldn't wait to be kicked and the referee couldn't wait to award the penalty. It's a very, very far-fetched sentence."
But the famous journalist Crafton commented, "Dembele's action is too rubbish." "It is worth mentioning that this is the fifth penalty taken by Argentina in this World Cup.
Despite the controversial penalty, since scoring this goal, Messi has already scored six goals in the World Cup, leading the top scorers table. At the same time, he surpassed Clayderman in the World Cup all-time goalscorer list to equalize Pele and tie for fifth.
Messi has already scored 21 goals in the World Cup, surpassing Pele and topping all players. At the same time, Messi also became the first player in the history of the World Cup to score in the quarterfinals, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.