The 2022 FIFA World Cup was staged in Qatar, on the west coast of the Persian Gulf, where summertime temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Consequently, the tournament took place not in May, June and July, as is customary elsewhere, but rather between November 20 and December 18, 2022. The smallest nation ever to host the World Cup, Qatar also qualified for the competition for the first time, albeit via an automatic berth.
For the last time, the tournament format consisted of eight groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the knockout stage. Eventual champions Argentina were seeded into Group C, alongside Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Indeed, La Albiceleste started disastrously, losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia at the Lusail Stadium in their opening group match. However, they recovered to beat Mexico 2-0 at the same venue four days later and victory over Poland, by the same scoreline, at Stadium 974 in Doha was sufficient to top Group C, ahead of their opponents.
In the round of 16, Argentina beat Australia 2-1, despite an own goal by midfielder Enzo Fernández and, in the quarter-final, the Netherlands 4-3 on penalties in a match dubbed the ‘Battle of Lusail’. Argentina led 2-0, but two late goals by Dutch striker Wout Weghorst – the second of which came in the eleventh minute of stoppage time – sent the match into extra time. All told, a record 18 yellow cards and one red card, to Dutch right-back Denzel Dumfries, after the final whistle, were given.
Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in the semi-final to set up a meeting with France at the Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022. Once again, they surrendered a two-lead, with Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappé scoring two late goals, the first of which was a penalty, in normal time and another in extra-time for the first hat-trick in a World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966. With the scores tied at 3-3 after extra-time, Kingsley Coman and Aurélien Tchouaméni both missed their penalties to give Argentina a 4-2 victory in the shoot-out.