Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe

Argentina shot-stopper Emiliano Martinez had the last laugh over Kylian Mbappe in the FIFA World Cup final, as France fell short of defending their title in Qatar despite the PSG superstar’s resilient display. Mbappe dragged his side from 2-0 down to 2-2 in the final ten minutes of the game as Argentina once again suffered a meltdown despite possessing a healthy lead.

The 23-year-old netted a brilliant hat-trick which included two penalties and a thunderbolt strike to take the final all the way to a penalty shootout. Mbappe once again stepped up to slot in France’s opening spot-kick, only for his teammates Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni to miss theirs and hand Argentina and Lionel Messi the World Cup. And that was it for Emi Martinez who made a brilliant save in the 120th minute of the game and denied Coman’s penalty, to troll the tournament’s Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe during Argentina’s dressing room celebrations.

Kylian Mbappe
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez consoles Kylian Mbappe along with French president Emmanuel Macron after the World Cup final. Credits: Twitter

Martinez first consoles then trolls Kylian Mbappe

France were all dead until the 80th minute of the final, when Argentina were well sat with a two goal lead to take home the cup. But it was Kylian Mbappe who came alive in the 80th minuet to pull one back for the defending champions, and then within a blink of the eye, score the equalizer in the next minute. The game then headed to the extra-time, as Messi seemed determined to take home the trophy that had eluded his grasp in 2014.

The ‘La Pulga’ netted his second of the night in the 108th minute of the extra-time, which also seemed to be the winner, again until ten minutes later. Mbappe came clutch as he won a penalty in the 118th minute and then calmly converted it as well to set an epic finale. However, Kolo Muani had a golden chance to win it in the last minute of the extra-time as he was presented with a one-on-one with Martinez.

The Aston Villa ‘keeper saved the dreams of a million fans along with his captain Leo Messi’s with a gigantic save to deny Kolo Muani. And the he had his final say in the penalty shootout to save Coman’s spot-kick and watch Tchouameni put his kick wide, as Argentina took the honors home. But Martinez was the first player on the pitch to walk towards a devastated Kylian Mbappe and console the youngster who delivered one of the greatest displays at a World Cup final.

However, Martinez was also the first to troll Mbappe mercilessly in the dressing room celebrations of the La Albiceleste, as a video footage shows the shot-stopper calls for “a minute silence for Mbappe”, before adding, “For Mbappe who is dead!”

And his teammates continued their celebrations, dancing and rejoicing their hard-fought victory which clinched Argentina’s third world cup. Messi once again led his side during the celebrations, as he was seen dancing his heart out with the World Cup trophy placed in front of him. One of the Argentine players was even seen diving into a bin, as others finally soaked themselves in beer, from the tournament’s title sponsors Budweiser.