BBC pundit Zabaleta breaks down in tears after Messi World Cup triumph

FIFA World Cup 2022 Final: Argentina V France In Pictures

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BBC World Cup pundit Pablo Zabaleta broke down in tears and was emotional live on air after Argentina defeated France on penalties to lift the trophy. The ex-Manchester City man was part of the Argentina squad for their previous final, when they lost to Germany, but was able to enjoy the final on Sunday as his country won their third title.

Host Gary Lineker asked Zabaleta if he was able to speak after the shoot-out, to which he replied: “No, I’m very emotional… It’s one of those moments, sorry,” Zabaleta said through the tears. “I am just looking at Messi.”

Fellow pundits Alan Shearer and Rio Ferdinand were in awe of being in the stadium to watch Messi win the World Cup. “It was a pleasure to be here to see it,” Shearer said. “Thank you to Messi and Mbappe. The way Argentina kept going, the mentality they had to score in terms of the belief. Well done and thank you for entertaining us. It was just unbelievable.”

Messi opened the scoring of a World Cup classic from the penalty spot, as Angel Di Maria was brought down inside the box. He sent Hugo Lloris the wrong way, before Di Maria himself then doubled the lead when the ball was slipped accross to him by Brighton’s Alex Mac Allister.

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French boss Didier Deschamps made two substitutions before half-time, and they had the desired impact as two goals from Kylian Mbappe tied the game up. The Paris Saint-Germain star slotted from the spot and then one minute later got his and France’s second with a stunning volley.

Mbappe thought he had sealed a second consecutive World Cup with his second penalty in extra time, and becoming the second player after Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

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However Messi then got his second of the game in extra time to send already a classic of the tournament to an agonising penalty shoot-out.

Messi and Mbappe stepped up first for their respective teams and slotted both of their spot kicks, as the French star scored past Emiliano Martinez for the third time in the game.

But misses from Randal Kolo Muani and Aurelien Tchouameni ensured that the French could not retain their trophy after all four of Argentina’s opening penalty takers calmly finished past Lloris.

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