Lionel Messi finished his fifth and final FIFA World Cup campaign by lifting the trophy for Argentina as the Albiceleste beat France in the penalty shootouts at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar earlier in the month on December 18 (Sunday) to win the coveted prize after 36 years. With this, one of the greatest footballers of all time, Messi added the only silverware that was missing from his illustrious trophy shelf.
Messi enjoys a massive fan base not just in European or South American countries but football followers around the world are crazy for the Argentinean magician. After winning the World Cup final in Qatar, Messi was seen signing jerseys for fans and clicking pictures with them.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner on December 27 (Tuesday) came up with another great gesture as he sent a signed Argentina jersey to MS Dhoni's daughter, Ziva Singh Dhoni. Along with the jersey, Messi wrote a two-worded message that read 'Para Ziva' (For Ziva).
Upon receiving the signed jersey, Ziva posted a picture on Instagram and captioned it as, "Like father, like daughter".
In what will go down as one of the greatest World Cup finals ever, Argentina emerged as the worthy winner after taking the lead twice in the summit clash, but France proved that they were worthy opponents after Mbappe scored a hat-trick but in vain.
Messi scored two goals and then another in a shootout as Argentina lifted their first World Cup title since 1986 and third overall. Messi put Argentina ahead from the penalty spot and played a part in Angel Di Maria's goal that made it 2-0 after 36 minutes. Mbappe scored two goals in a 97-second span to take the game to extra time, and then Messi tapped in his second goal in the 109th minute. But there was still time for another penalty from Mbappe to take the thrilling game to a shootout.
