The 5 best players of Argentina champion in the World Cup in Qatar

This is how Argentina's victory was experienced throughout the country 6:14

(CNN Spanish) --

The Argentine team returned to the greatest glory of soccer by beating France this Sunday in the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

It was a spectacular and unforgettable final.

In regular time, the match ended 2-2: the Albiceleste dominated 79 minutes of the match and led comfortably with goals from Lionel Messi from a penalty and Ángel Di María.

However, the French team woke up in just two minutes, as Kylian Mbappé scored from the penalty area at minute 80 and then one more at minute 81 after a great wall play.

The match went into extra time and everything seemed to lean in favor of the South Americans, since at minute 109 Messi appeared once again to give the momentary victory.

But Mbappé also arrived again, who at 118 scored another goal from the penalty spot to tie the score and send the final to penalties.

As usual, Emiliano "Dibu" Martínez was key in the penalty shootout, as the Argentine goalkeeper saved one and forced the failure of another, with which Argentina won the title with a score of 4-2 from eleven steps.

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• The summary of the World Cup in Qatar 2022: Messi, Argentina, goals, Africa and more

Messi, Di María and Dibu will always be remembered as figures in the World Cup in Qatar, but also other actors with less of a poster, but just as decisive, such as Alexis Mac Allister and Julián Álvarez, who were key to blowing up the Argentine midfield and the lead.

Here we present the most important statistics of these five players in the World Cup, according to information from DataFactory.

The 5 best players from Argentina in the World Cup in Qatar

Lionel Messi

• He scored 7 goals in the World Cup, just one behind the tournament leader, Mbappé.

• He is the first man to score in each phase of a World Cup, a record he shares with American soccer player Carly Lloyd, who did so at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada.

• Three of his goals were on play and four from penalties.

• Of the 8 assists that Argentina made in the tournament, three were from Messi.

• The effectiveness of his shots was 21%, that is, he scored twice in every 10 shots he made in the tournament.

• He made 33 shots in the entire World Cup: 7 were goals, 15 were on target and 11 were deflected.

• He played 789 minutes and received a yellow card.

• His passing effectiveness was 88%, with 312 correct and 44 missed.

angel di maria

Ángel Di María kisses the FIFA World Cup trophy during the trophy delivery ceremony after Argentina's victory.

(Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

• Due to a blow suffered against Poland on matchday 3 of the group stage, Di María was unable to have much activity in the tournament: 324 minutes in total in four games as a starter and one as a substitute.

• However, the importance of Di María lies in being the goal man for Argentina in the finals.

  More than a year before, he gave the Albiceleste victory in the Copa América after being the author of the only score of the match;

  now, in Qatar, he appeared again for the Argentine 2-0 against France.

• His passing effectiveness was 83%, with 132 correct and 27 missed.

• In total, he took 8 shots: 6 went on target, 1 went wide and the last one was the goal in the final.

• He had an assist in the tournament.

Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez

Emiliano "Dibu" Martínez with Lionel Messi, after the World Cup final in Qatar.

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

• A penalty penalty in every sense of the word.

  He was key in the quarterfinal phase, when he saved the first two on penalties against the Netherlands and that was enough to win.

  And, of course, he was instrumental against France in the final, saving one and forcing a miss on charges from 11 steps.

• In addition, something that will remain forever as one of the best "Dibu" postcards was his save in the last seconds of the final.

  It was already minute 3 of the aggregate at 120 and France had a one-on-one against Martínez, but the goalkeeper stretched out as long as he is to get a clear goal ball that would have meant the championship for the French.

• Like Messi, he played all 7 World Cup games and accumulated 789 minutes played.

• His total saves in the tournament was 12.

• He kept a clean sheet three times: against Mexico and Poland in the group stage, and against Croatia in the semifinals.

Alexis MacAllister

Alexis Mac Allister of Argentina kisses the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Winner's Trophy. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

• He became the engine and brain of the Argentine midfield.

  The distribution of his game can be seen with his passing effectiveness: 90%, with 245 correct and 26 missed.

• He started 6 of Argentina's 7 games in the World Cup.

  The match where he did not start as a starter was against Saudi Arabia, which was the only one that the Albiceleste lost in Qatar.

• His total minutes played was 594.

• He took 7 shots in the World Cup: 3 went wide, another 3 on target and one more ended in a goal, when he opened the scoring against Poland.

• He had one assist and nine ball recoveries throughout the tournament.

Julian Alvarez

• He did not start as a starter in the tournament.

  Lautaro Martínez started the first two Argentine matches in the group stage, but never managed to make a difference.

  Lionel Scaloni realized this and, against Poland, put Álvarez in from the beginning, who scored the final 2-0 against the Europeans.

• Since then, he has not released ownership again: in the round of 16, quarters, semis and final, he was in the starting eleven.

• And he had a presence in all 7 World Cup games, because when Lautaro came off the exchange, Álvarez was the chosen one.

• He accumulated 506 minutes in the entire tournament.

• He took 11 shots in Qatar 2022: 6 were on target, 4 were scored and only one went wide.

• With his 4 goals, he was third in the World Cup scorer's table along with Olivier Giroud.

Analysis: Messi wins his World Cup 2:52

Special mentions: Rodrigo De Paul and Scaloni

• Although it was not the best of his tournaments, Rodrigo De Paul also worked as an engine in the Argentine midfield, always giving his all in each game.

  He was decisive in such a way that he was placed as the third best passer in the World Cup with 555, only surpassed by the also Argentine Nicolás Otamendi (570) and the Spanish Rodri (676).

• Lionel Scaloni was and is the soul of this Argentina team.

  His story is wonderful: after the departure of Jorge Sampaoli as coach of the Albiceleste, Scaloni was appointed interim coach in August 2018, without previous coaching experience.

  But that interim became his definitive position.

  The rest, as they say colloquially, is history: with the title in Qatar and the one he won in 2021 in Brazil in the Copa América, after 28 years, he became the first Argentine coach to win both trophies.

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Just like Diego Armando Maradona did 36 years ago in Mexico 1986, Lionel Messi finally manages to lift the world cup with Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will close his career as an absolute legend.

In a wonderful game, the score was 3-3 and the definition was on penalties.

Here are the best 15 photos from the Qatar 2022 final. (Photo: Image created using Getty Images photography) →

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Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, the figures of Argentina and France, greet each other before the start of the World Cup final in Qatar.

(Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Ángel Di María entered the French area and the referee decided to give Ousmane Dembelé a penalty.

(Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

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Lionel Messi scores the penalty to open the scoring in the Qatar 2022 final. (Photo: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

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Ángel Di María, who practically did not play the entire knockout phase due to injury, scored Argentina's 2-0 win against France in the World Cup final in Qatar and celebrated it.

(Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

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After trailing 2-0, French coach Didier Deschamps decided to make two substitutions five minutes before the end of the first half.

One of them was Olivier Giroud and the other was Ousmane Demebelé.

(Photo: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

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Hugs from Rodrigo De Paul: with each goal by Messi and Di María, the midfielder went to hug his teammates.

(Photo: Image created using photos from Getty Images)

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This was the intensity of the actions in the World Cup final.

While France had a hard time throughout the game, the Argentines searched for all the balls.

(Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

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Two minutes was enough.

Kylian Mbappé at minute 80 and 81 to tie an Argentina that dominated 79 minutes of the game.

Here the images prior to the goals of the French player.

(Photo: Image created using photos from Getty Images)

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Messi puts his hand to his head in the World Cup final, after France tied 2-2 in two minutes.

(Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

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Messi at 109. The Argentine star raises his hands to heaven after making it 3-2 in extra time against France.

(Photo: Image created using photos from Getty Images)

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But Mbappé reappeared.

From a penalty, the French star scored in the last minute of the game, at minute 118. Argentina 3, with two from Messi and one from Di María;

France 3, with a hat trick from Mbappé.

(Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

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The final match of Qatar 2022 went to penalties.

The first two collectors were Mbappé and Messi.

They both scored.

(Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

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Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez.

A total specialist in penalties.

He did it again, with a saved penalty and forcing another to miss.

The goalkeeper was a key factor for Argentina to become world champion.

(Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

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Argentina got it.

Messi got it.

Huge triumph for the albiceleste, who achieved their third World Cup in their history.

(Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

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Messi, you did it: you led Argentina to their third world cup.

The captain raises the trophy with all his teammates in total happiness.

(Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

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