One of the greatest soccer players of all time capped his amazing career with a World Cup championship. Lionel Messi led Argentina to victory in an epic final match over France that will be talked about as long as people care about soccer.

You can follow the twists and turns of the match in this rundown from Fox Sports which includes video highlights that were shared by the network on Twitter.

Messi scored twice in the match, while French superstar Kylian Mbappé in France’s amazing comebacks. The match was a story of leads and comebacks. Argentina built a 2-0 lead by halftime, and had plenty of chances to extend the lead. But France stormed back led by Mbappé to send the match to overtime. His second goal was simply spectacular. Argentina took another lead, only to have Mbappé tie it again on a penalty kick in the 118th minute.

The match then went to penalty kicks, which always adds even more drama. It almost didn’t seem fair to have a match this good be decided in this way. Both Messi and Mbappé hit the opening penalty kicks for their respective sides, but then Emi Martinez made his first save in the penalty kick round, and then Gonzalo Montiel ultimately hit the winner for Argentina.

What a game!

Messi deserves this, and we have to consider that Mbappé is only 26. He’ll have more opportunities, but this one has to sting for him and for all of France.

Meanwhile, it’s party time in Argentina!!

Lionel Messi missed a penalty kick. Argentina lost the Copa America final against Chile. Then Messi announced he’s retiring from the Argentina national team without ever having won a major international title.

Wow. That was quite a bad day for Argentina football. Let’s see if Messi eventually let’s the emotions of the moment subside so he can gear up for the 2018 World Cup. It’s difficult to imagine him refusing another opportunity to perform on the world stage. It’s critical to his legacy.

The 2012 FIFA Ballon D’or will be awarded early next year, and of the 20 candidates up for this year’s prize, one name stands out. Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi is the outstanding candidate for the coveted prize and with good reason. Throughout 2012, he has scored a massive 82 goals in all competitions, just six away from breaking the record set by legendary Germany striker Gerd Muller. Messi is the overwhelming favourite to win the prize, but who are his rivals, and can they stop him?

One of the other two major candidates for the Ballon D’or is Barca teammate Andres Iniesta. The inventive attacking midfielder has helped Messi immensely throughout his career, supplying him with endless assists against many of their opponents, but one thing Iniesta has in his favour is international success. While Messi hasn’t quite delivered with Argentina, Iniesta has enjoyed unparalleled success with Spain, playing a key role in winning and retaining the European Championships and, most impressively of all, the World Cup.

The third candidate to make it through the 20-man shortlist is Messi’s greatest rival to date, Real Madrid’s polarising Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has a record that stands up against that of Messi, and unlike the diminutive Argentine, has a La Liga winners’ medal to show for his efforts in the past year. However, what may count against him is that Real’s title defence has stuttered, and that he has underperformed since September. This may count against him when the award is given out.

The odds with Ladbrokes Sport of Messi picking up the trophy for the fourth time in succession are pretty short, but it’s hard not to bet against him, even if he hasn’t won as much as Iniesta or Ronaldo in the past 12 months. Should the award go to one of the other two, it would be a huge shock.