Messi goal: Watch Argentina captain score penalty against France in World Cup final

In his bid to claim an elusive World Cup trophy, Messi opened the scoring against Les Bleus at Lusail Stadium

Lionel Messi opens the scoring in the 2022 World Cup final, netting a penalty (Getty Images)

Lionel Messi scored the opening goal of the World Cup final on Sunday (18 December), giving Argentina a first-half lead over France by netting a penalty – which you can watch below.

Dribbling past France winger Ousmane Dembele on Argentina’s left flank, Angel Di Maria cut into the French penalty box and was clipped by Dembele from behind.

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Di Maria hit the turf, and referee Szymon Marciniak pointed to the spot, where Argentina captain Messi lined up his penalty.

The 35-year-old rolled the ball to the left of Hugo Lloris in the France net for his sixth goal of the Qatar World Cup – his fourth from the spot.

Later in the first half, Angel Di Maria doubled Argentina’s lead.

Messi’s spot-kick also saw him equal Brazil legend Pele on 12 World Cup goals overall, while Germany’s Miroslav Klose is the all-time leading scorer with 16. Pele’s compatriot Ronaldo scored 15 goals at World Cup finals, Germany’s Gerd Muller netted 14, and France’ Just Fontaine scored 13.

Two-time champions Argentina came up short in the 2014 final in Brazil, with Messi and Di Maria on the pitch but failing to score as Germany won 1-0 in extra time.

In the next final, in Russia in 2018, France beat Croatia 4-2.