World Cup stories: Lionel Messi completes legacy in first-ever winter World Cup

We are counting down the days until this summer's 2026 World Cup, and with 92 days to go, DAZN News travels back once again to reflect on what happened on football's grandest stage just four years ago. 

World Cup 2022 was groundbreaking and controversial in equal measure, but on the pitch producing a fitting moment for one of the game's greatest ever players to fulfil a legacy as Argentina triumphed in the first-ever winter World Cup. 

Qatar was the setting, Lionel Messi was the star, but there were so many memorable moments along the way, too. 

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Winter World Cup 

Football's biggest showpiece had a very different feel to it for 2022, not only was it hosted in the Middle East for the very first time, but it was also rescheduled and played in winter due to the summer heat in Qatar being deemed unplayable for the tournament. 

The decision to host the finals in Qatar was a controversial one. FIFA faced allegations over how and why the Asian country was chosen to be the venue for proceedings and Qatar itself was criticised for its working conditions, beliefs and infrastructure ahead of the tournament - many of which were never fully resolved. 

On the pitch, however, the domestic season was brought to a halt and 32 teams qualified for the finals, with the hosts making their debut and the home nations represented by Euro 2020 finalists England and Wales' first appearance since 1958. 

Canada also returned to the stage for the first time in 36 years, but four-time winners Italy failed to qualify for the second successive World Cup. Getty

The moments that mattered 

Kicking off unusually in November, the Group Stage began with one of the great World Cup shocks, as Saudi Arabia beat Argentina in the side's opening game to really send shockwaves through the tournament. Fortunately for the South Americans, it proved just to be a setback as they ended up winning the group on route to even bigger glories. 

Less can be said about Germany, though, as they crashed out of the opening phase for the second finals in a row as they lost to Japan, who topped the group and very nearly knocked out Spain, too. Belgium also failed to progress to the knockouts as their waning 'Golden Generation' underperformed once again. 

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Messi and his Argentina side continued doing their thing, edging out the Netherlands in a roller-coaster of a game that ended in spot-kicks, while Croatia overdelivered once again by reaching the final four. 

England made it to the quarter-finals, but couldn't get past a stubborn French side, with Harry Kane's second-half penalty miss adding to a narrow 2-1 defeat. 

It all meant Argentina and France met in the final, and one that would go down as perhaps the greatest of them all. 

The stars of the finals 

Much like the nation's first favourite son in 1986, some names stoodout in Qatar, but it was a World Cup that belonged to Lionel Messi, who finally stepped out of Diego Maradona's shadow and landed the biggest prize. 

Messi's tournament was akin to the way Maradona led his Argentina side to glory in Mexico, as he scored seven goals, including two in the final, to finally get his hands on the famous trophy and complete his footballing legacy. 

His achievements put Messi on a new bar, and aided by the likes of Enzo Fernández, Julian Alvarez and Emiliano Martínez, led the South Americans to their first World Cup since Maradona's exploits. 

Those seven goals weren't enough to win the Golden Boot, however, with Kylian Mbappe stealing one prize from the PSG star, including becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in the final since Geoff Hurst in 1966. 

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The final

Fans had got used to finals becoming cagey affairs, but this was as far from cagey as you can get, as Argentina and France slugged it out across 120 minutes and a dreaded penalty shootout. 

Yet, up until 80 minutes, it looked like a forgone conclusion. Messi's opener from the spot and Angel Di Maria's goal just after the half-hour mark looked like being enough for the win - until Mbappe intervened. 

The French striker scored twice in the final ten minutes to level the tie, and then in extra time, scored his third two minutes from time after Messi had put Argentina back ahead. 

With the game tied at 3-3, it went to penalties and in the end, it was misses from Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouaméni that handed Lionel Scaloni's men a memorable victory. 

The legacy 

World Cup 2022 will always be remembered as Messi's tournament, a career almost completed as he lifted football's biggest prize to cement a legacy in the game that is arguably unrivalled. 

Off the pitch, it proved a success logistically for Qatar and showed a winter World Cup can be absorbed into the current footballing climate, but it's questionable whether the concerns and controversy surrounding the hosts were ever really answered. 

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