“This World Cup arrived courtesy of Western commercial capital and FIFA. The blood stains their hands as well.” Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin, The Nation
Super Bowl games and heavyweight title fights don’t always live up to their hype. Not so the 2022 World Cup Final between Argentina and France. The last match of a tournament that saw upsets in the group stages, late goals, penalty shootouts, Croatia knocking Brazil out, and Morocco making an improbable run to the Semi Finals, delivered, and then some.
It was the best this beautiful, worldwide sport has to offer. The devotion and passion of fans along with the grit and skill of the players. The drama. The twists and turns and heart-stopping suspense, wild swings of emotion, from joy to despair in a matter of seconds. No other sport comes close. It’s what sets football apart.
For 75 minutes, Argentina completely outplayed France, dominating the midfield, winning almost every duel, pouncing on every loose ball, and defending with an intensity that left France struggling to cope. It was a clinic of tactics and execution. A penalty from Lionel Messi and a stunning team goal on a counter-attack saw Argentina with what looked like a comfortable two goal advantage with fifteen minutes to play.
What happened thereafter will go down in World Cup history. After Kylian Mbappe converted a penalty everything changed for France. The players’ body language was revived as if all of them had received an injection of adrenalin. Within 90 seconds, Mbappe struck again with a bit of incredible individual skill and the match was suddenly tied at two goals apiece. Now it was Argentina’s turn to look dazed. This was a scenario they had seen in the Quarterfinals against the Netherlands, when a comfortable two goal lead vanished in ten minutes; that time Argentina escaped, winning a penalty shootout, but this was the Final against the defending champions.
Near the end of the first period of extra time, Lionel Messi scored, and it looked like it might be enough to pull Argentina over the line for the first time since 1986. But in the second period Mbappe converted another penalty, giving him a hat trick and pulling France level. 3-3.
Penalty shootouts are nerve wracking, gut wrenching affairs, full of psychology and mind games, and sometimes even the best penalty takers falter. Look what happened to Harry Kane when England and France tangled in the Quarterfinals. I thought Argentina would have an advantage because France’s goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, isn’t known as a great penalty stopper, unlike Argentina’s keeper, Emiliano Martinez. Sure enough, France came out on the losing end, 4-2.
France gave everything. Making it to the final of the World Cup two tournaments in a row is a feat of which the French can, and should, be proud.
But it’s impossible not to feel happy for Argentina and Lionel Messi. The country has faced tough economic times the past several years. For Messi, bringing the World Cup trophy home completes his set of football achievements. The diminutive magician has won everything, individually, and for club and country. As far as I’m concerned, Messi is the greatest player of the modern era.
This World Cup was phenomenal, but while I loved the matches I can’t forget the enormous human cost; thousands of workers died building the facilities and infrastructure. According to Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin, the financial cost landed in the neighborhood of $220 billion. Writing in the Nation Boykoff and Zirin observe:
“So why did Qatar do it? This World Cup shows that authoritarian, unchecked power can launder surplus capital—the mega-event reportedly cost some $220 billion—into reputational capital. “
One of the commercials on the Fox network boasted about Qatar’s progress and modernization, and its integration with Western institutions, including the US military. That seems a dubious endorsement. Suffice to say that a tremendous amount of money was spent, made, and splashed around. Now that Qatar has all these beautiful facilities, what will it do with them?
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