Argentina scored four of the penalty kicks to France's two.
Argentina started off strong in Sunday's match, and had gained a 2-0 lead over France by half-time. Both Messi and Angel Di Maria scored goals during the first half of the game, with Messi scoring on a 23rd-minute penalty kick after a foul on Di Maria. Thirteen minutes later, Di Maria scored after finishing off a five-pass team move involving a deft flick from Messi. France's Kylian Mbappé scored his team's first goal in the 71st minute, and quickly followed up with another.
Messi now has 12 World Cup goals — the same as Brazilian icon Pelé — and is the first player to score in the group stage and every round of the knockout stage in a single edition of the tournament. Among the cheering crowds filling the stands at Lusail stadium on Sunday was French President Emmanuel Macron. About 45 minutes before kickoff, Macron was seen chatting in the VIP section with Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, who played for four seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, and France midfielder Paul Pogba, who has had to watch the entire World Cup from the sidelines due to an injury.
The World Cup champions will earn $42 million in prize money for their soccer federation while the losing team in the final will get $30 million from a FIFA prize fund of $440 million.
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