Lionel Messi led Argentina to a World Cup victory in one of the all-time great finals after holding their nerve to beat France 4-2 in a penalty shootout on Sunday evening.

Messi scored a first-half penalty and another goal in extra time to win the World Cup and put an exclamation point on his already legendary career.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice to bring France back from a 2-0 deficit and send the game into overtime.

Messi appeared to have won the game with his second goal of the match in extra time, but Mbappe scored the only hat trick in World Cup final history to tie the game at 3 and force penalties.

Even though Gonzalo Montiel scored the game-winning penalty that gave Argentina a 4-2 shootout victory, this was Messi’s time to shine.

In his fifth and final World Cup, the 35-year-old finally emulated his idol Diego Maradona by leading Argentina to World Cup glory for the first time since Maradona’s victory in Mexico City in 1986. He had previously tasted bitter defeat in the 2014 final against Germany.

Tens of thousands of Argentina fans in blue and white shirts stood up to applaud Messi when he told them on the stadium microphone, “We’re world champions!”