The Qatar World Cup will go down as the greatest of all time, according to Kevin Kilbane.
The former Republic of Ireland winger was speaking after Argentina defeated France in a pulsating final to take home the trophy for the first time in 36 years.
After dominating the game for nearly 80 minutes, Lionel Messi’s team were stunned by two goals in 97 seconds from France’s Kylian Mbappé to take the game into extra time.
In the end, an Mbappé hat-trick was not enough to win the game and after a 3-3 draw, Argentina won the World Cup on penalties.
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On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Kilbane said the final was “probably the greatest game of football I have ever seen in my life”.
“I don’t think anyone’s really had the chance to actually reflect on what happened in that game last night,” he said. “Look at the standard of goals
“That Di Maria goal - the second Argentina goal - it was an incredible goal. The movement, the passing, the pace, the off-the-ball running and things like that from the technical aspect.
“Then the Mbappé goal. I mean, because France were dreadful for the first 70 minutes. I think they only had one touch in Argentina’s penalty area up to 70 minutes – I think it was about the 63rd or 64th minute or something when they got the first touch.
“So, France were dreadful and then all of a sudden, one mistake by Argentina’s defender gives them a penalty and then Mbappé comes to life.
“The Mbappé goal was very, very special. What a moment that was in a World Cup final.
“It was a game that had everything. It was amazing performances by everybody – I think it was just a perfect night overall.”
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He said people all over the world have been “on this incredible ride with Messi and Argentina” for the last month.
“They got a lot of flak after the Holland game and I thought Holland actually acted worse than Argentina did that day,” he said.
“If you watch the footage back from what was happening, the Dutch players were acting dreadfully towards the Argentina players during that penalty shootout. They were surrounding each taker as they were going up to take the ball.
“So, Argentina acted the way they acted when they goaded them after the game - when they won the shootout - and everyone has seen that image of Argentina running to Holland and that was awful stuff, but they were goaded into it. There was two sides to that.”
Argentina celebrate the win during the FIFA World Cup 2022 match at Lusail Stadium, Doha, 09-12-2022. Image: David Klein/AlamyAfter spending a month in Qatar covering the tournament, Kilbane said he is more convinced than ever that it should never have been held there.
“When you’re here and you’re surrounded by it, you understand the gulf between the rich and the poor and the lack of warmth towards anyone that is one of the workers here – that’s how they are described here: ‘the workers’.
“It is almost as if they’re dehumanised; they’re not even considered people and that is my takeaway. It is probably something that should never have happened in this country.”
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Despite that, he said the football on show was “extraordinary”.
“We got so many extraordinary games, so many moments throughout this World Cup and to cap it all off, we got one of the greatest ever, if not the greatest ever, winning the trophy.”
All in all, he said the tournament has to go down as the greatest in history.
“Last night was probably the greatest game of football that I’ve ever seen in my life – I can’t get away from that,” he said.
“The tournament itself will probably go down as the greatest World Cup ever.”
