World Cup 2022: Argentina's route to title explained
Argentina won their third World Cup trophy after the final in Qatar on Sunday. Here is what you need to know about their route to the title:
HOW DID ARGENTINA QUALIFY FOR THE ROUND OF 16?
* The top two in each World Cup group advance to the last 16. The knockout rounds, which began on Dec. 3, feature one-off matches, which can go to extra time and penalties to decide the winners.
* Argentina recovered from their shock defeat to Saudi Arabia with back-to-back wins over Mexico and Poland to finish as winners of Group C.
HOW DID ARGENTINA REACH THE QUARTER-FINALS?
* Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez scored in Argentina's 2-1 win over Australia in their Round of 16 tie.
HOW DID ARGENTINA REACH THE SEMI-FINALS?
* Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout in their quarter-final tie, after Nahuel Molina and Messi's goals were cancelled out by a brace from Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst.
HOW DID ARGENTINA REACH THE FINAL?
* Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in the semi-finals, with Messi coolly putting away a spot kick in the 34th minute to open the scoring before Alvarez found the net either side of halftime.
WHO DID ARGENTINA BEAT IN THE FINAL?
* Argentina beat defending champions France 4-2 on penalties, following a dramatic 3-3 draw when striker Kylian Mbappe completed a hat-trick in the 118th minute to cancel out two goals by Messi and a strike by Angel Di Maria.
* In the penalty shootout, Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez saved Kingsley Coman's effort and Aurelien Tchouameni fired wide to give Argentina their first world title since 1986, and third overall.
(Compiled by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru and Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
