Wrapping up the action from Qatar Read in browser England World Cup Football | Sign Up World Cup winners and losers including Messi, Maddison and Martinez Paul Okey Lionel Messi and Argentina celebrate their World Cup win If we just concentrate on what happened on the pitch, the 2022 World Cup will
Wrapping up the action from Qatar | | | | | | |
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| World Cup winners and losers including Messi, Maddison and Martinez
Paul Okey |  | Lionel Messi and Argentina celebrate their World Cup win | |
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| If we just concentrate on what happened on the pitch, the 2022 World Cup will go down as one of the best ever.
A little bit of revisionism may be in evidence with regards the final after what was a pretty forgettable first 80 minutes but nonetheless the tournament as a whole threw up all manner of thrills, spills and storylines.
We look back on some of the best (and worst)…
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Best player: Lionel Messi
|  | | Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball, not surprisingly, given the way he dragged Argentina through the competition after their defeat to Saudi Arabia.
It wasn't quite Diego Maradona levels of carrying a team to World Cup glory but it was a supremely impressive effort from the 35-year-old.
Has seemingly put to bed all those GOAT arguments, no matter what Piers Morgan might say. | |
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Best goal: Wout Weghorst vs Argentina |  | | Lucas Paqueta's fine finish to a superb Brazil move against South Korea deserves a mention, as does Richarlison's second against Serbia. However, for its sheer inventiveness given the circumstances, the goal of the tournament has to be Netherlands' free-kick equaliser against Argentina.
Effectively the last kick of the match, everyone was expecting Cody Gakpo to curl the ball around the wall, or at least attempt to.
Instead, Teun Koopmeiners took the entire wall out of the equation by rolling a pass into Wout Weghorst who turned inside the box and drilled the ball past Emi Martinez to send the game into extra time. Nerveless. | |
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Best match: Argentina vs Netherlands |  | | The final? Nah. For 80 minutes it was a procession leading to Messi's inevitable crowning. That Kylian Mbappe managed to make a game of it has blurred the memories.
Far better was the quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands.
We had the same collapse from a seemingly impenetrable position but we also had a referee dishing out cards like confetti and genuine needle.
Commentator Jonathan Pearce's holier than thou reaction to the argy bargy failed to recognise that it is exactly the sort of thing we neutrals want from a high-stakes game.
Ridiculous bookings, challenges and over-reactions combined with a dramatic comeback and last-minute equaliser? Oh, and a penalty shootout too? Yes, please. | |
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Best celebration: Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) |  | | Vincent Aboubakar effectively performed a mic drop after his stoppage-time header gave Cameroon a 1-0 win over Brazil in the group stage.
It wasn't enough to take Cameroon through and as Aboubakar had already been booked, the removal of his shirt saw him receive a second yellow card from referee Ismail Elfath.
It was some way for the smiling Aboubakar to bow out of the tournament. | |
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Biggest disappointment (team): Wales |  | | Was it worth the wait? Absolutely not. Sixty-four years on from their last World Cup finals appearance, Wales failed to turn up until the second half against USA, got turned over by Iran and then brushed aside by England.
They'll be expecting much better in 2086. | |
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Biggest disappointment (player): James Maddison |  | | Having had so many column inches devoted to whether you should be included in the squad in the run-up to the tournament, the very least you can do is to actually have some kind of impact when you get there, good or bad.
To get injured before a ball is even kicked and then fade out of the equation altogether even when fit just isn't what we want from our controversial picks.
Honourable mention to Ben White. | |
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Worst miss: Romelu Lukaku, 1st, 2nd and 3rd |  | | Rumours are that Romelu Lukaku is still having nightmares about his cameo for Belgium in their goalless draw with Croatia.
Needing to win to progress to the knockout stages, Belgium passed up a host of second half chances, with Lukaku the chief culprit.
He stuck the post with the goal gaping, headed over an empty net and then somehow failed to convert another chance from three yards out when it looked harder to miss.
The Independent described him as "abysmal". They were being kind. | |
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Most annoying Aston Villa keeper: Emi Martinez |  | | Everything about Emi Martinez seems designed to irritate, from his hair and ridiculous shootout theatrics to his x-rated trophy posturing.
Soon to become even more irritating now he can point to being a World Cup winner.
You can't argue with what he actually produced in between the irritating moments, however, with his save in the last minute of extra-time to deny Randal Kolo Muani arguably more important than anything he produced in the shootout.
Guaranteed to drop a clanger when Villa return to Premier League action against Liverpool on Boxing Day. | |
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Latest World Cup news | | Essential listening |  | | Join Connor Bromley and Kieran King as they review the World Cup on Football Digest's World Cup podcast.
Click here to listen, or search for Football Digest on your chosen podcast provider.
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