Thirty-two teams boarded their flights to Qatar harbouring aspirations of World Cup 2022 glory - some more realistic than others - and the destiny of the Jules Rimet trophy has been decided following a month of thrills, spills and a record number of goals.
Champions in 1978 and 1986, Argentina endured 36 years of hurt before denying 2018 holders France the chance to lift back-to-back titles, prevailing 4-2 on penalties after an action-packed 3-3 draw after 120 minutes in Sunday's final.
The snapshots of seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi lifting the trophy aloft will forever be engrained into the memories of football fans, as the 35-year-old filled in the final tick box on his CV with a Golden Ball in tow.
It will come as no surprise to learn that Messi occupies a spot in Sports Mole's World Cup 2022 Team of the Tournament, but which 10 other players join the timeless Argentine in our dream lineup?
DEFENCE
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The representatives of Dominik Livakovic will be rubbing their hands with glee after watching the Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper produce save after save in a memorable World Cup campaign. The hero of penalty shootouts against Japan and Brazil - stopping four efforts from 12 yards - Livakovic made a tournament-high 25 saves and beat out Yassine Bounou and Emiliano Martinez to the number one spot.
The first of a few Moroccan red shirts to waltz his way into our Team of the Tournament is the effervescent Achraf Hakimi, who had the sheer audacity to produce a successful Panenka penalty to dump Spain out in the last 16 and bombed down the right all the way through to the semi-finals. The 24-year-old also had a wonderful assist to his name against Canada, and no player made more tackles (26) than him.
Livakovic rightly earned high praise for his imposing performances in between the posts, but he was offered stellar protection by the 2002-born Josko Gvardiol. Another Croatian rearguard member who could soon be set for a big-money transfer, Gvardiol played every minute for the Checkered Ones en route to the bronze medal and made a tournament-high 37 clearances, while also capping off a fantastic tournament with the opening goal in the third-placed playoff against Morocco.
Youthful talent and seasoned professionals feature in equal measure in our backline, with Argentina's Nicolas Otamendi emerging from the doldrums to enjoy a well-earned World Cup winners' medal. The 34-year-old was another ever-present for his side and rolled back the years in defence, while also providing one crucial assist in their last-16 success over Australia.
Finally, Sevilla and Argentina left-back Marcos Acuna may only be 5ft 8in tall, but he still packs a mean punch. The 31-year-old regularly fended off competition from Nicolas Tagliafico to start for the champions, coming up with one assist in the quarter-final win over the Netherlands, and his physical prowess was a welcome addition to the Argentina backline when he was brought off the bench in the final.
MIDFIELD
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Some already had Argentinian starlet Enzo Fernandez down as their breakthrough star of the tournament before the first ball was kicked in the group stages, and it may now be worth asking those confident souls for next week's lottery numbers. Undesirable play-acting in the final aside, the 21-year-old was worthy recipient of the Young Player Award after scoring one goal and setting up another in seven games, and 22 tackles was the third-most in the tournament behind Hakimi and Mateo Kovacic.
Kovacic's midfield partner Luka Modric would have been an honourable mention for the Team of the Tournament, but two Moroccan maestros simply could not be ignored. Fiorentina lynchpin Sofyan Amrabat departs the World Cup as the player to have made the most recoveries with 57, and the likes of Liverpool and Barcelona have supposedly been alerted to his dogged performances as a one-man midfield screen.
With Amrabat willing to do the defensive dirty work, fellow Atlas Lions midfielder Azzedine Ounahi had all the license to roam forward that he could have dreamed of. The 22-year-old Angers man was a relatively unknown protege before the World Cup, but after posting an 83% dribble success rate, Les Scoistes are already inundated with offers for a player who has received the Luis Enrique seal of approval.
ATTACK
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After playing a pivotal role in France's 2018 World Cup triumph, replicating such prowess at club level has been a thankless and sometimes fruitless task for Antoine Griezmann. The 31-year-old did not score one goal in Qatar, but his creative prowess shone bright, as he came up with a joint-high three assists, created a joint-high seven big chances and made 22 key passes in total - more than any other player.
Griezmann's inability to find the back of the net was rendered inconsequential as Kylian Mbappe shouldered the goalscoring burden, posting eight strikes in total to clinch the Golden Boot. The 23-year-old broke a host of individual records by becoming only the second man to score a World Cup final hat-trick on Sunday after Geoff Hurst, but those personal accolades will count for nought after his one-man comeback against Argentina proved to be in vain.
A few minutes after one Paris Saint-Germain attacker chuntered his way to a runners-up medal, his Parisien clubmate completed the set. Watching Lionel Messi kiss the World Cup trophy before getting both hands on the glistening gold honour will go down as one of the most iconic images in sporting history, and it was no less than the 35-year-old deserved after coming up with seven goals and three assists during his farewell World Cup tournament, but Lionel Scaloni has insisted that the door is still open for a 39-year-old Messi to help his nation defend their title in 2026.
SPORTS MOLE'S WORLD CUP 2022 TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT
World Cup 2022 Team of the Tournament (4-3-3): Livakovic; Hakimi, Gvardiol, Otamendi, Acuna; Ounahi, Amrabat, Fernandez; Griezmann, Mbappe, Messi
Ben Knapton
