<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Lionel Messi turned 36 on Saturday (July 24), as he celebrated his birthday. The former Barcelona departed PSG after the 2022-23 Ligue 1 season as a free agent and signed a deal with MLS side Inter Miami. He had an unceremonious exit from Paris as PSG fans jeered him in his final fixture for the club. Despite that, the attacker will have plenty of positives, having led Argentina to 2022 FIFA World Cup glory in Qatar, in December.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Messi led Argentina to a penalty shootout victory against France in the final, at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. In what turned out to be a tightly-contested final, Argentina took the lead in the 23rd-minute, with Messi converting a penalty after Angel Di Maria was fouled in the box by Ousmane Dembele. Then a quick counter in the 36th-minute saw Messi flick a ball past his marker to pick out Alexis Mac Allister's run. The Brighton midfielder surged into the box, before squaring it to Di Maria, who beat a rushing Lloris with a bottom corner finish to make it 2-0 for Argentina.</div><div><br></div><div>It looked like Argentina were cruising to an easy win, but Kylian Mbappe had other plans and brought France back into the game with two goals in 97 seconds. In the 80th-minute, the PSG star converted a penalty to make it 1-2 after Kolo Muani was brought down in the Argentine box. Then the 23-year-old made it 2-2 with a stunning volley in the 81st-minute.</div><div><br></div><div>The match entered extra-time and both sides began to look for a winner and it looked like Messi found it for Argentina. The veteran tapped it in after a deflection off Hugo Lloris to make it 3-2, after a quick VAR check ruled in his favour in the 108th-minute. But Mbappe once again came to his side's rescue in the 118th-minute, converting another penalty in the 118th-minute after Gonzalo Montiel saw a shot by the Frenchman hit his arm.</div><div><br></div><div>After Mbappe's hat-trick, the score read 3-3 and it entered the penalty shootout. During the shootout, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez came out on top with stunning saves to block Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman's efforts. Gonzalo Montiel converted the winning penalty as Argentina won 4-2 in the shootout. For his performances in the tournament, he was also adjudged as the best player.</div><div>By HT Sports Desk</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>