Lionel Messi wore a black cloak as he lifted the World Cup to celebrate Argentina’s incredible victory over France in the final.
The final match of Qatar 2022 was a game for the ages, with Argentina edging the contest on penalties and the match finishing 3-3 after 120 minutes of enthralling action.
A penalty from Messi and Angel Di Maria’s strike put the Alibceleste in charge of the final as they went 2-0 up at halftime.
They appeared to be cruising to a convincing win before Kylian Mbappe levelled for France as he scored twice in the space of 97 seconds – the first a penalty and the second a brilliantly taken volley.
Messi then struck early in the second half of extra-time but he and Argentina were pegged back once again with another Mbappe penalty.
The final was then decided via a dreaded shootout and Argentina came up trumps as Emiliano Martinez saved Kingsley Coman’s spot-kick and Aurelien Tchouameni fired wide. Argentina scored their all four of their penalties.
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Messi won the Player of the Tournament award before getting his hands on the trophy that had eluded him throughout his career.
Before the iconic moment he exchanged pleasantries with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who put a robe on him just before the trophy lift.
The cloak Messi was wearing is a Bisht, which is a traditional men’s cloak that’s popular in the Arab world and is understood to date back thousands of years.
A Bisht is worn on special occasions such as weddings or celebrations of festivals such as Eid, the religious holiday celebrated by Muslims that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.
It may have been a bizarre sight to those not familiar with the custom, but it was not as strange as Infantino’s white trainers.
While nothing odd about the footwear, the fact he had them customised so ‘FIFA’ was printed on the side of them.