QATAR (Dec. 19, 2022) -

Doha had a hard time recovering from the World Cup final yesterday. The Argentinian fans continued to celebrate in the frenzy of the match, and they did not miss the city's international airport as well, with intense singing of "Muchachos" – the tournament song of the Albiceleste fans, and Argentina's new unofficial anthem.

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Celebrations lasted through the night. Broadcasts to Israel have ended, but the streets of Qatar have only just begun celebrating. Hundreds of thousands of fans poured into the streets of Lusail, for the big party that was planned. Police cleared the roads, which were packed with bands, magicians, clowns, drummers, stilt walkers, bikers, and more. Anything imaginable was there at this greatest party anyone could produce.

The cherry on the top was the winning team: the players left the field in a bus wrapped in Argentinian flags, standing on the roof, holding the trophy and waving to the crowds.

Usually, the victory lap with the trophy is held only when coming home. But Qatar – just like with the cloak placed on Messi, and just like every other moment during the World Cup – did what they wanted. The Argentineans cooperated and drove the fans crazy, against the backdrop of a grandiose display of fireworks over the bay.

It was a glorious ending to a magnificent game that everyone who was in the stadium (and even those who just watched it on television) will never forget. A grand finale that had it all: drama and tragedy, happy and sad, and all this in a script that exceeded all imagination, while, inevitably, as fairy tales go, the best man won.

Yes, Kylian Mbappé gave the best game of his life. He scored a hat trick and finally proved that he belongs among the greatest. Agreed that the refereeing was more supportive towards the Argentines. And despite that – Argentina deserved to win, and Messi crowned himself king of the world, as everyone hoped he would.

A little more of the magic

Argentina and France have already flown home, together with their swarms of fans, journalists, interested parties, and everyone else who played a part in the World Cup. The players (except the English players, where the league resumes next week) went on a short break and will return to play only at the start of the new year.

The two great heroes of the tournament and the final, Messi and Mbappé, will meet again in Paris – this time as partners in their Qatari sponsor's next effort, to bring the Champions League to its protégé, Paris Saint-Germain. En route, they will play in different stadiums in Toulouse and Auxerre, as far away as possible from the record position they shared only two days ago.

Qatar, along with Argentina, is the greatest winner of this World Cup. It has proven that it is not only capable of hosting the biggest event in the world, but it can also do it with great success.

And yet, Qatar is wrong if it thinks that the World Cup will dramatically change its image around the world. It didn't work for Russia after the World Cup in 2018 – and it won't work now either, because Qatar will go back to being the closed-up and conservative country it has always been.

But none of this is of any interest to Argentina, which is now reveling in its mammoth achievement that Messi and his buddies have arranged for it. This is pure joy, so worthy of a country that truly loves football and knows how to celebrate it in the most authentic way possible.

Argentina will come to the next World Cup in 2026 as the cup holder. Messi did announce that he will continue playing for the national team, but it is not guaranteed that he will be there. The organizers – a political triangle of the USA, Canada, and Mexico – are most definitely praying that this will happen so that they can also bask in a little more of the magic that has enveloped Qatar in the last month, and spread through the entire world.

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Israel's temporary office in Qatar to handle diplomatic affairs during the World Cup will close this week after the end of the tournament, an Israeli source told i24NEWS.

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The move was expected following the tournament, which concluded Sunday with Argentina crowned champions following a thrilling final match against France, decided 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 3-3 deadlock.

Qatar does not maintain diplomatic ties with Israel and the House of Thani ruling family is considered a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause. The Palestinian flag was ubiquitous at the tournament despite a ban on flags, with authorities removing Israeli and other flags during matches. It was the first World Cup to take place in a Middle Eastern county.

Israel secured a deal last month with Qatar and FIFA before the start of the World Cup to allow Israeli nationals to travel to the country to attend matches, where they would be able to receive consular services. History was made on Nov. 20 when the first direct commercial flight between Israel and the capital Doha took off with Israeli soccer fans.

The Foreign Ministry praises conduct of 10,000 fans who traveled to the Gulf state, saying it had to deal with only isolated problems involving Israelis.

According to Israeli diplomatic officials in Doha, 10 cases required diplomatic treatment, including one medical emergency in which an Israeli was hospitalized before being airlifted back home. The majority of the other incidents concerned misplaced or stolen passports.

"We are happy to say that the entire event went off with virtually no problems," Iris Ambor, head of the Israeli delegation at the World Cup, was quoted by i24NEWS as saying. "We are full of appreciation for the Israeli visitors who took responsibility for themselves and acted with discretion throughout."

 JNS.org contributed to this report.

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Now that the final curtain has come down on the 2022 World Cup, at FIFA the countdown to the next tournament scheduled for summer 2026 is already underway. Five years ago, the decision was made that the 2026 World Cup would take place for the first time in three different countries – the US, Mexico and Canada – and for the first time 48 national teams would take part in it.

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino is the man responsible for increasing the size of the tournament by 50%, and the motives for this are crystal clear: increasing the revenues of the international football association and bolstering his own political status as head of the organization. More national teams mean more votes in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections.

But there is one issue that Infantino and his board of advisers have not addressed: how exactly is this monster-sized World Cup tournament going to work? Until very recently the idea was to divide up the 48 national teams into 16 groups with only three teams in each one. The top two teams in each group will then qualify and advance to the knockout stage. According to this method, there will be 80 games (instead of 64 under the current system), and the tournament, as it is now, will last for four weeks.

Apart from the fact that there will be 16 teams that will play only two matches before returning home, at first glance it doesn't appear to be such a bad solution. But the wise men of FIFA have not taken into account the fact that in a 3-team group, in each round there will always be one national team not playing a match, which will inevitably lead to a situation in which the two teams competing in the last group stage match will know precisely what outcome suits them in order to advance – and to send the third team home.

The infamous "Disgrace of Gijón" match held in Spain during the 1982 World Cup is still fresh in the memories of many football fans. West Germany and Austria colluded to secure a 1:0 win for the Germans, leading to the elimination of Algeria from the tournament, who had already finished their group stage matches at that point.

This incident led to a change being introduced in 1986, and the third and final group stage round would now be held with both matches taking place simultaneously to prevent similar acts of non-sporting behavior.

This welcome change has led to intensely dramatic scenes unfolding over the years, such as what happened now in Qatar in Group E, when the group table standings were repeatedly turned on their head before it was finally decided that Japan and Spain would proceed to the Final 16, while Germany and Costa Rica were eliminated.

104 games in five weeks                                                          

The most amazing fact is that FIFA has not commented on this issue, though a fair number of commentators have written about it. Former Arsenal manager and FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger, referred to this only last weekend.

He did not rule out the original idea of the 16 three-team group format but added that an additional two alternatives are currently being examined. One idea is to have 12 four-team groups, with the first and second-place teams qualifying automatically for the knockout stage, while the eight best third-place finishers would also advance to the Final 16 stage.

The second idea is slightly more complicated: the 48 national teams competing in the World Cup will be divided into two separate tournaments. Each 24-team tournament will comprise six groups of four teams.

In each tournament, the six group winners will advance to the knockout stage along with the two best second-place teams. Following the quarterfinals and semifinals in each individual tournament, the last four teams (the two winners of the semifinal matches in each tournament) will then compete for the title based on the "Final Four" system.

In both of these proposed formats, the tournament would involve 104 soccer matches, lasting for five weeks, and this is where the genuine problem lies. The football clubs – who pay the players' wages – will clearly be adamantly opposed to this, and we should not forget the fans and the media too, for whom this would be an unprecedented, exorbitantly expensive and fatiguing event.

But that's not all: since the World Cup shifted from a format of 24 to 32 national teams, the need for internal rating of the best second-place teams in each group has been abandoned.

A shift to a 48-team competition would take us back to this most unhealthy state of affairs, as then the decision as to who advances would be based on goal difference, and there are always differences between the various groups in terms of the quality of the national teams. Once again, those teams playing last in the group stage schedule will know precisely what result they need to progress.

Wenger said that a decision on the competition format will be made only next year, but it is already clear that the move to a 48-team World Cup is extremely problematic, and will face considerable, severe criticism.

All the way to New York                                                                  

In the meantime, FIFA has already decided on the distribution of tickets for the next World Cup according to continents. Europe will send 16 teams (instead of 13); South America will send six teams, with the option of one more in a playoff (instead of 4+1); Africa will be represented by nine teams with the option of an additional one (instead of five); and Asia will be able to send eight teams with the option of an additional team too (instead of 4+1). The three host nations will of course qualify automatically.

An additional three national teams will qualify from North America and Central America with the option of two teams qualifying from the playoff, while Oceania will have one guaranteed place and an additional team to qualify from the playoff. Six teams will take part in the playoff tournament (from all the continents apart from Europe), and the top two sides will complete the puzzle of the 48 participating nations.

The final dates of the World Cup will be determined only after the format has been decided, in summer 2023. The host cities of the various matches and the division between the host countries have already been decided. There are to be 11 in the USA, three in Mexico and two in Canada.

The venue for the final has yet to be published, but it appears to be patently clear that this will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New York – the home of New York's two famous football teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

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PARIS (December 18, 2022) —

The atmosphere at Saint-Denis north of Paris is exhilarating. The afternoon of the World Cup final. Hmmm … but not exactly what you were expecting. No flags on the houses and no honking in the streets. They are just playing soccer. Dozens of soccer fields full of amateur players, teams of boys, even girls. I almost rubbed my eyes in astonishment before the opening of the final, when the referee whistled to open the girls' game. "Each half is only twenty minutes. We'll get home shortly after the opening of the game," says one of the fathers.

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The French indifference was apparent everywhere. The best soccer player in the world for 2022, Karim Benzema, tweeted that he doesn't care about what is happening in Qatar. Without a spot of patriotism, the most famous sports magazine in the world, L'Equipe, split its front cover between Messi and Mbappé, even though it must be noted that they might not have any spirit of patriotism, but good journalistic senses, they most definitely do have!!

The viewing event for local fans failed. "Poor publicity," says one usher. "You can't start only with the final game," explains another. All that remains is to see whether the indifference has infected the national team, or the national team has infected the public.

It was 2-0 Argentina in the first half. But just then the plot takes an unusual emotional turn. The TV broadcast showed the French exchanges that brought about the change, but here we noticed something else. Five players who got up off the bench were Parisians – Koeman, Muani, Konaté, Disasi and Fofana – and for the spectators in Saint-Denis, who grew up within a radius of no more than a few miles from here, these are people who look and talk and feel like them. This is the second generation of France in every possible sense: Almost all the spectators here come from Africa. Northern Africa, or the areas south of the Sahara.

And they turned the game around. And the legend of Mbappé developed before our eyes. He was compared to Pele, Zidane, Vavá and Breitner as scoring the goals in two finals. He was compared to Pele and English Hearst, as the scorer of a triple goal. And then he surpassed all soccer players in scoring the number of goals at a World Cup Final. I never saw Raimundo Orsi's wonderful goal for Italy in 1934, but from what was broadcast on television, Mbappé's 2-2 goal was the most beautiful ever scored in a final. And he will soon be 24.

What has passed in the meantime are the assumptions of soccer fans that a soccer player has to win either way to be a winner or a loser. Every player – whether Argentinean or French – who was on the field, can forever walk down the street and say that he played in the World Cup Final of 2022. Messi shows us why he is one of the greatest in history. Mbappé shows us time and time again why he will also be one.

The second half, ending in 3-3, is the most important and this teaches us a lesson. Vive la France. Viva la Argentina. Long live soccer!

After the extra time, France loses on penalty kicks. The crowds fold up their flags. France is no more the world cup soccer champions, but they won something that is much greater than the cup. The love of their people. The French will no longer show indifference to their wonderful team.

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Buenos Aires (DECEMBER 18, 2020) —

It was a battle of the titans, between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. A rare game of once in a generation, ending after 120 nerve-racking minutes. A final that has never been seen before, bringing Argentina to its third victory in the World Cup final, after several failed attempts in the past.

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With this victory, Messi broke the curse of 36 years and there is no doubt anymore that he is the greatest of them all; the second to sprout from Argentina, after Diego Armando Maradona. The score is now equal.

"We are ecstatic; there is immense happiness, the players caused us to suffer, but the game was always for Argentina. We deserved to win. What else do you want? Argentina has won three times: in the game, in the extra time, and in the penalty kicks,"

"To see Messi raise the cup; he deserves so much. This is a great evening in Buenos Aires. Tomorrow does not exist. This has not happened for a long time. The happiness is great," he added.

Only hours before the start of the final, the local media channel was focused, as expected, on the exclusivity of the World Cup final. The Clarin corporation was giving out every bit of information, such as a spiritual blessing from his holiness, Pope Francesca, himself a Buenos Aires native.

"Our best wishes to the champions, but I call upon all of you to live with this in modesty. And to whoever does not win, to live with this in happiness." The Pope called to play a "clean game," in his interview to the Italian Canale 5.

Streets in the Argentinean capital were blocked. People took off from work and the public transportation was significantly limited. Buenos Aires's main street, Avenida 9 de Julio, was closed off to fan who surged to the Obelisco, with increased police presence.

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LUSAIL, Qatar –

Wow. Wow. Wow, times 1000. My heart is beating at 180 pulses a minute and I am still trying to wrap my head around what my eyes have seen. There is no Hollywood script that could ever match what unfolded in the FIFA World Cup 2022 final between Argentina and France on Sunday. The thriller was a nail-biter all the way to the end, culminating with the happy ending that had become a global consensus: Argentina is the fresh champion; Lionel Messi is the new GOAT.

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This was undoubtedly the best soccer match ever; the best World Cup final one could imagine. Two superstars Kylian Mbappé and Messi in a game that would surely be talked about for years to come. Countless upsets that defied any logic, with fans rooting like mad from the bleachers and billions watching at home – and everyone in disbelief. The tension,  closing the 2-goal gap, the joy turning to despair and vice versa, and the prayers – wow, there were prayers heard all across the globe and they were mostly directed at one person, who may be only 5 feet tall but is also a one-in-a-lifetime magician who got the official certification on Sunday that he is number one.

Nothing could have prepared us for the drama that we saw over the 120-plus minutes of the game. It was basically dominated by one side for 80 minutes; it was almost boring, with Argentina scoring two goals, first by Messi and then by Ángel Di María. The Albiceleste fans in the stands continued with their enthusiastic singing that has become such a part of the team's experience over the past month whenever their team played – you could hear them on the streets of Doha, on the subway system, and on the way to the stadiums and of course in the stadium, whose fans were almost without exception dressed in sky-blue and white; only a few pockets of fans wearing the tricolor were noticeable.

Then came the successor, Mbappé, and in what was a stellar personal drive managed to score two equalizers in one minute. The Argentina fans thought they were going to collapse; the French were ecstatic. Even when the match dragged into stoppage time and then extra time, the tit-for-tat continued, with Mbappé once again equalizing after Messi – in his seventh goal this tournament – brought Argentina to a short-lived one-goal advantage. Mbappé's Hanukkah miracle, on the first night of the holiday, resulted in this crazy match reaching a point that is inherently not suitable when it comes to determining which of the best two national teams should win.

Then when the penalty kicks began, it was only Argentina that dominated, mainly thanks to the great performance of its goalie Emiliano Martínez. The man who managed to save them from defeat in the penalty shootout against the Netherlands did it again and then burst into tears. All the Argentinian players cried with him, as did the thousands in the stand who had waited 36 years for this moment. The only person who did not shed a tear was Messi, who in this tournament showed different traits: leadership, maturity, and as someone who could finally fill Diego Maradona's shoes and take with him 40 million of his compatriots all the way to the holy grail.

The French players, who came back from the dead, looked like a train wreck at the end. They were so close to grabbing another championship, the second in a row. Ultimately, despite Mbappé's amazing game (he so desperately wanted to have the trophy for his birthday this week), no one is going to remember their performance in this World Cup. What will linger is the fact that Argentina won its third World Cup and the jubilation that will follow, as this soccer-obsessed nation celebrates for many days to come to distract from the many problems.

The joy on the pitch continue well after the game was over. Messi swung the cup wearing the black and gold gilded robe he got from the Qatar emir, and then ran off to hug his wife and kids. One picture of the Messi family, speaking and smiling caught my eye. Every other player would have been overcome with emotion at this moment, but Messi – who lives in his own universe, was cool as a cucumber as if he was enjoying a family picnic that just happened to coincide with him holding the most prized trophy in the world.

The Argentinian fans who could not get enough of the celebrations inside the stadium continued partying outside the venue all through the capital city of Doha, which had live-performance stages dotting the entire metropolis. But nothing could upstage the best show in town: the throngs of Argentinians having the time of their lives. Their solidarity with their national team, which started well before the match began, dragged on and on for hours upon hours after the final whistle had been blown, and will surely continue until the team touches down in Buenos Aires.

The world-class performance we saw in the final was a proper final note for a fantastic World Cup with superb quality on display throughout. Yes, this was a treacherous and tainted road – from having to move the tournament to the winter to the thousands of dead construction works and the prohibition of alcohol and protesting anti-LBGT law- but as far as the soccer that was on display, the past month brought the most popular game in the world to new heights. It is doubtful that we will get to see such games in the near future.

As far as Qatar is concerned, that is all that matters. It ran a smooth and impressive tournament, which is no small feat for such a tiny country that had never hosted events of such magnitude. The effort the rulers took in making sure this was a success is seen in every corner, not just in the games, but on the streets as well. Qatar showed the world a smiling face, which was only marred occasionally by political demonstrations (mainly from Morocco's team). It also had the good luck of having the best two teams reach the final, with its two crown jewels of Messi and Mbappé – both play in the Qatari-owned team Paris Saint-Germain F.C. It essentially proved that there is nothing money can't buy.

Starting Monday, Qatar will once again be what is used to be: a rich sheikhdom that is both religious and conservative. But anyone who has had the chance of visiting it over the past several weeks will never forget the magic that was part of this tournament, and especially the final: a once-in-a-lifetime experience that is almost supernatural. Perhaps the only thing one can say is, Thank you. Thank you for having the privilege of seeing this match, these players, and being part of an event that most likely won't be replicated in the future.

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Argentina won the World Cup on Sunday after beating defending champions France 4-2 on penalties, following a dramatic 3-3 draw after extra time. Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez saved Kingsley Coman's penalty and Aurelien Tchouameni fired wide to give Argentina their first world title since 1986, and third overall.

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France had come from two goals down to level over 90 minutes with Kylian Mbappe netting twice in two minutes, including an 80th-minute penalty. The France striker completed his hat-trick in the 118th with another spot-kick after Argentina's Lionel Messi had tapped in for a 3-2 lead in the 109th.

Argentina had gone 2-0 up in the first half with Messi, making a record-breaking 26th World Cup appearance, converting a 23rd-minute penalty. They struck again with a sublime four-pass counter-attack as Alexis Mac Allister's cutback found Angel Di Maria and he finished well.

France's Kylian Mbappe scored a 117th-minute penalty to complete his hat-trick and force a shootout after Lionel Messi had put Argentina back in front in the 109th minute.

The French, attempting to become the first team in 60 years to win back-to-back titles, staged a sensational two-goal comeback, with Mbappe netting twice in two minutes, including an 80th-minute penalty.

Argentina had taken the lead in the first half after Messi, making a record-breaking 26th World Cup appearance, converted a 23rd-minute penalty to equal the World Cup tally of Brazil great Pele with his 12th goal in five tournaments.

Argentina struck again before the break following a sublime four-pass counter-attack as Alexis Mac Allister's cutback found Angel Di Maria at the far post and he finished well.

Tens of thousands of soccer fans wearing French and Argentinian colours gathered at Doha's Lusail stadium on Sunday where the 2022 World Cup ends with a dream-like scenario for Qatar: a showdown between Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, both stars of Doha-owned Paris St Germain.

The throngs overcrowded Doha's metro with Qatar Rail delaying access to the stations as a modest closing ceremony kicked off inside the stadium where dancers celebrated "A Night to Remember". The stadium appeared almost full as the game started, with Argentinian fans vastly outnumbering the French.

The crowd watched Qatar's air force planes flying over Lusail as the Gulf state also celebrated its national day, with thousands of police forces, including anti-riot units armed with water canons, securing the area.

After 63 matches, the World Cup in Qatar comes to a close with reigning champions France taking on Argentina in a showpiece final with both teams looking to add a third star to their crest. France's Mbappe and Argentina's Messi, both playing for the Qatari-owned club, are also a reminder of Qatar's influence on global soccer beyond the FIFA World Cup organisation.

"Our parents talked to us about Maradona, and we will talk to our sons about Messi... We hope that we will win the cup, and we can celebrate with him and all the people in Argentina," said Nicolas Gomez, a fan from Argentina.

Argentina got a 2-0 lead against France at half-time in the World Cup final after goals by Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria. Messi scored on a 23rd-minute penalty kick after a foul on Di Maria. Thirteen minutes later Di Maria finished off a flowing team move involving a deft flick from Messi.

Messi now has 12 World Cup goals – the same as Brazil great Pelé – and is the first player to score in the group stage and every round of the knockout stage in a single edition of the tournament.

France's Kylian Mbappe scored twice in two minutes late in the game, including an 80th-minute penalty, to salvage a 2-2 draw with Argentina after 90 minutes and force extra time in the World Cup final on Sunday.

The Argentineans had struck through captain Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria in the first half and were in complete control until Mbappe inspired a dramatic comeback for France, who had looked toothless for much of the game.

French fan Dylan Cognard from Normandy dismissed the heavy presence of Argentina's supporters: "(They have) a lot of chants, but if we score, there will be zero sound ... They will stop singing 'muchacho'."

Thousands also gathered outside the stadium to watch the game on giant screens: "We have no tickets. We are here for the national day and because the players might come out after the finish. We wanted to just see them," said Shafeek Mydheea, a tourist from Dubai standing in front of two rows of riot police outside Lusail metro station.

Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup, which has been marred by controversy, was part of a carefully built strategy by the tiny but rich state to bolster its global influence.

The tournament has put its human rights record in the spotlight - including conditions for foreign workers who built those stadiums and conservative laws which ban homosexuality, restrict political expression and curb alcohol sales.

In May, a coalition of rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on FIFA and Qatar to establish a compensation fund at least equivalent to the $440 million World Cup prize money for workers who have suffered abuses or died in Qatar. Neither FIFA nor Qatar agreed to establish the fund.

Others, like the UK-based labour rights charity Equidem called for the establishment of an independent migrant worker centre in Qatar to allow freedom of association and to overhaul the relationship between workers and employers in the Gulf Arab state. Qatar has not yet established such a centre.

Qatari authorities say the decade-long criticism of their country has been unfair and misinformed, pointing to labour law reforms enacted since 2018 and accusing some critics of racism and double standards.

"We've endeavoured for this tournament to be an accelerant to improve the conditions on labour reforms because the situation previously was not acceptable despite the best intentions," said Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar's World Cup organiser, in an interview broadcast on Sky News.

"There is the Workers Support and Insurance Fund that will be looking into any matters relating to unfortunate deaths. And that will continue beyond the World Cup," Thawadi said.

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Fernanda Quiroga still remembers how Lionel Messi played soccer in what were then dirt roads around their working class neighborhood in Rosario, Argentina's third-largest city.

"(Messi) was always kicking something, a ball, a bottle cap," said Quiroga, who at 35 is the same age as the captain of Argentina's national soccer team. "The memory I have of him because he lived right in front of my house, is going to buy sweet pastries at his grandmother's around the block and he was always kicking something."

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Excitement for Sunday's World Cup final, when Argentina will face defending champion France in Qatar, is rising fast and anxiety is running particularly high in Messi's hometown as many are hoping this will be the year when Messi finally wins the one major trophy that has been missing from his illustrious career.

"Even though it pains us all, it's been said this is Leo's last World Cup, so we're all hoping he wins it, I think more for him than for the national team itself," Quiroga said. "I think what weighs more this time around is that we want him to get it because he has generated so much love and respect."

After beating Croatia in the semifinals Tuesday, Messi said Sunday's match would likely be his last in a World Cup.

The neighborhood popularly known as La Bajada has turned into a sort of altar for Messi with murals and graffiti that praise the soccer star.

"From another galaxy and from my neighborhood," reads graffiti that is seemingly ubiquitous in the area.

A large mural of Messi looking up at the sky is painted on the side of his old house that still belongs to his family.

"The little guy was very spicy. If he got mad, he grabbed the ball and took it away," said Marcelo Almada, a 37-year-old construction worker who played soccer with Messi in the streets around the neighborhood where he still lives. "He didn't like to lose … but he was a very good kid."

With the World Cup, "there has been an explosion in the neighborhood," where "we're all like brothers," he added, noting that after every Argentina victory people celebrate in the streets until the early hours of the morning.

The neighborhood has also turned into a place of pilgrimage, with fans from all over the world coming to visit Messi's old house and the small soccer field in the corner where he started to learn the skills that would eventually turn him into an all-time great.

"I've been a fan of Barcelona and Messi since I was a little boy and … my dream is to see Messi win (the World Cup)," said 23-year-old Niv Reznik, an Israeli who traveled to Argentina with a group of friends to watch the tournament in the homeland of the soccer star who played 17 seasons with Barcelona.

When Reznik and his friends got to Messi's house, one of them kneeled and waved his hands in ovation.

A few blocks away, another person who is hoping for a Messi victory is 55-year-old Andrea Liliana Sosa, who was Messi's math and science teacher in fifth and sixth grade.

"He was a quiet and dutiful student, responsible with what he had to do for school and well loved by his classmates … especially during the breaks to play ball," Sosa said in one of the classrooms of the school that has chipped paint across many of its walls. "He was very focused on soccer.

"(A victory Sunday) would be like the cherry that he's missing, so let's hope he makes it, but he has done enough already to be recognized and loved by everyone," she added.

School children are living the World Cup "with a beautiful passion" and want Argentina to win "for Messi," said Milena Fernández, a 13-year-old student who was standing in front of a large mural of the soccer star on the school's grounds.

Across the street from the school, another large mural of Messi adorns the side of a residential building that has also turned into a place of pilgrimage for fans.

"We've even seen people praying here," said 21-year-old Valentina Rota, who lives in the building. "There's a whole feeling of belonging because he was born around the corner, he's one of us, he's a neighbor."

Messi, and the national team as a whole, have managed to raise the hope and optimism of Argentines in a country that has been stuck in economic doldrums for years with one of the world's highest inflations rates, closing in on almost 100% per year, and where close to four of every 10 people live in poverty.

"Everyone wants Messi to win and that generates a community, a very pleasant feeling that is very infrequent in Argentina, which is always fighting, divided, angry, frustrated," said Diego Schwarzstein, an endocrinologist who treated Messi for growth hormone deficiency until he left for Barcelona at 13 after the European club promised to pay for his costly treatment.

In Rosario, a city marred by drug violence, that feeling seems even more stark.

"You forget a little bit about the murders, the robberies and all other things that are happening," Sosa said. "This distracts us a little bit."

It isn't, of course, just about a distraction. For those who have followed Messi's career from the beginning, a victory Sunday would mean the culmination of lifelong work considering the soccer star himself has talked about the importance of winning a World Cup title.

"Despite the fact that he's now a rock star, has a beautiful family, a gorgeous wife, a bulky bank account and lots of popularity, his path was not covered in rose petals," Dr. Schwarstein said. "Those of us who know that path, and know the importance this Cup has for him, profoundly want him to have it."

In La Bajada, residents are hopeful that if Messi wins on Sunday he will come back to his old home for a visit.

"We all have the dream that he will come back," Quiroga said. "It's a very strong wish, especially for the youngest who've heard that we all know him and they want to meet him, too. There are huge expectations for him to come back and I think that some day it will happen, whether it be now or later. This is his house, his family's house, let's hope it happens."

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After 63 matches, the World Cup in Qatar comes to a close on Sunday when reigning champions France take on Argentina in a showpiece final at Lusail Stadium with both teams looking to add a third star to their crest.

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Croatia edged Morocco 2-1 in Saturday's third-place playoff, an entertaining affair that served as a curtain-raiser to the main event where France stand in the way of Lionel Messi and his last chance of glory.

In the France dugout, coach Didier Deschamps has already taken his place among the sport's greats - as a player and a coach - but can go one step further by becoming the first coach to win back-to-back titles in the post-World War II era.

The last time these two teams met was at the 2018 World Cup where France beat Argentina 4-3 in the last 16, an encounter that was arguably the most entertaining match of the tournament in Russia.

The final will also see a clash of generational stars when 35-year-old Messi, playing in his final World Cup match, faces his 23-year-old Paris St Germain team mate Kylian Mbappe.

Both players have scored five goals at the World Cup and could potentially leave Qatar with three trophies as they also vie for the Golden Boot for the top scorer as well as the Golden Ball for the tournament's best player.

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On Wednesday, Doha had a difficult time waking up from Argentina's dream after its 3:0 victory in the first semi-final against Croatia. The streets were flooded with fans, who continued to sing and cheer as if the game was not over yet. Perhaps this was actually in preparation for the final that will be held on Sunday.

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The madness in turquoise and white started long before the game. The entire city was supporting one team: Argentina. A handful of Croatia's fans could be seen here and there, but they were only a drop in the ocean. Even countless Morocco fans, whose presence was felt in the city (Air Morocco, the national airline, added 30 flights in the last two days to meet the demand of fans to attend the semifinal against France). All cheered for Argentina, and in particular, for Leo Messi.

The atmosphere on the pitch was almost as electrifying as the game itself. Put all the conspiracies for and against Messi and Argentina aside for one moment, because there are moments that are greater than all that. The semi-final at the Lusail Stadium was most certainly one of these moments: a rare display of football and goodwill, which only South American passion can produce.

The atmosphere continued long after the final whistle was blown. For almost an hour thousands of Argentina's fans remained on the field, singing and hailing even after the players had already gone down to the dressing room. The celebrations continued, of course, all the way from Lusail to the city – on the subway, buses, taxis - and in several pivotal points in the city center. Blowing of the final whistle was the signal for a mega party, which went on until the early hours of the morning. At some stage, congestion was so great that the police blocked all entrances to the Waqif market, which was overflowing with fans.

What cold shoulder? 

Yesterday afternoon, when I visited the market again, the tone had shifted to Morocco's fans, in the leadup to the second semi-final against France. Argentina's fans were much calmer, for now at least, as their team had qualified for the final. The tension will return and will probably rise from today until Sunday. They will be satisfied with nothing less than the cup –  evident in the unbelievable pictures of millions of fans parading the streets of every city in Argentina, and to understand the general madness that is now gripping this football-sick and trouble-stricken country.

El-Tayyeb restaurant, located in one of the market alleys, is famous for its excellent meat skewers. They have no cutlery there; you pull the meat off the skewers with a pita and eat with your hands. Sitting there is like being on a kibbutz: they ask you how many people you are, and put you at a table with that number of free seats. The food is cheap and tasty, and the atmosphere is jovial. The person next to me at the table asked where I was from. I asked him to guess. "Argentina," he tried. I answered "No" and said "Israel." He looked at me in amazement and said: "Argentina is better. They've got Messi."

Much has been written over the recent weeks about the cold shoulder that Israelis have been given here. There have also been cases of verbal attacks, including against journalists. I haven't experienced any of this. I think that the expectation to be welcomed here with open arms and love was excessive. Qatar, of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Hamas supporter and good friend of Iran, does not particularly like Israelis. It holds clandestine ties with Israel, through Mossad and other security organizations, but openly prefers to keep its distance. In the past, Israel did, in fact, have a representative office in the sheikhdom, but it was closed in 2009, following Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, and has not been reopened. Since then, Qatar has made an effort to identify with the Palestinians, educating its young generation this way, and broadcasting its messages through its home channel – Al Jazeera.

If it weren't for the World Cup, Israelis would not be coming here (with the exception of security forces or anyone holding a foreign passport). Therefore, I believe that we have to regard what is happening here in a different way: This is a one-time opportunity to visit another Muslim country, which, on the one hand, has not been affected by years of war, enmity, and strained relations with Israel, like Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, while, on the other hand, is not completely free of these countries, like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

This open door to Israelis will close this coming Monday, the day after the final, and Qatar will swiftly return to being the inaccessible and rough country that it was. There are undoubtedly many in Qatar who long for the chaos to recede from the streets and the familiar tranquility to be reinstated. There are also many others – mainly business owners, tourist workers, and taxi drivers – who are already regretting that the jackpot of the past month is soon coming to an end.

Criticism will disappear

Anyone who has not visited here before believes that it is natural to be taking videos and selfies on every street corner, that it is okay that private drivers are "playing taxi driver" without a license and that they honk on the streets. But those who know Qatar know that all these will disappear within a moment. Next week, no one will be double-parking at the entrance to the market, and no one will be sitting with bare shoulders on the chairs scattered around the Katara entertainment district.

Getting back to normal will be as quick as lightning. Just as the 974 stadium – it has been endlessly written about the fact that its name derived from Qatar's international telephone code and the number of containers it comprises – was immediately pulled down after the quarterfinal, in which Brazil beat South Korea 4:1. The organizers announced in advance that this would happen, and put in a lot of effort to ensure that it would happen during the World Cup so that they could prove to everyone that they were keeping their promise. Now we wait to see where the containers that were used to build this stadium would be sent in order to build it again. This will probably be in Africa, as Qatar's contribution to the Black Continent, and in an attempt to generate more positive public relations for themselves.

In the meantime, the organizers can feel satisfied, because the level of football displayed in the World Cup has been excellent, and Argentina and Messi have reached the final. This guarantees them peak interest up until the last minute. They will sweep the immense criticism of this World Cup under the carpet. Those who live in Qatar are not exposed to this at all and bask in the reports of the "most successful world cup in history", as it has been marketed here. And in everything else about the world, you can count on the Qataris to move heaven and earth – and above all – to pour money, in continuing to glorify their name in every way possible.

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