LIONEL Messi and Kylian Mbappe won major individual awards tonight as players from Argentina and France made a clean sweep of the prizes at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Messi led Argentina to defeat Mbappe’s France 4-2 on penalties tonight in the final, with both stars contributing five of the six goals in the 3-3 pre-shootout draw.
The Argentina captain was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring seven goals as the South Americans overcame an opening 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia to win their first world title since 1986.
Having also been named the best player of the 2014 tournament when Argentina lost in the final to Germany, Messi has become the first player to win the Golden Ball at two World Cups since the award was officially introduced in 1982.
Messi, who scored twice in tonight’s final, was beaten to the Golden Boot award for top scorer by Mbappe, who scored eight goals, including a hat-trick tonight.
Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez won the Young Player of the Tournament award ahead of the likes of England’s Jude Bellingham and Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol.
Fernandez, 21, was impressive in the Argentina midfield and scored once for the new champions.
Emiliano Martinez earned the Golden Glove award for the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament, having made several key saves throughout the World Cup, including in penalty shootout victories over The Netherlands and France.
