Lionel Messi’s wife Antonela celebrates Argentina star’s penalty while dad watches on as he lights up World Cup final
LIONEL MESSI'S wife Antonela leaped for joy as her man put Argentina 1-0 up in the World Cup final.
The 35-year-old went into today's match aiming to make history by crowning his glorious career with the one trophy that has so far eluded him.
Argentina began the match on the front foot, putting France under pressure from the very first whistle.
And they grabbed a deserved lead on 23 minutes, after Ousmane Dembele was adjudged to have fouled Angel Di Maria in the box.
Messi stepped up to take the resulting spot kick, beating Hugo Lloris from 12 yards to send his millions of supporters around the world into raptures.
And no one was more delighted than Antonela, who jumped up and waved her fists in celebration in the stands.
READ MORE WORLD CUP NEWS
She was joined by sons Thiago, ten, Mateo, seven and Ciro, four.
The young trio celebrated wildly after seeing their dad score on the biggest stage.
And Messi's own father Jorge also watched on proudly from the stands.
Things got even better for Argentina just 13 minutes later - with Messi again involved.
Most read in Football
The Paris Saint-Germain star beautifully flicked the ball on as his side launched a counter-attack, with the ball eventually finding Alexis Mac Allister.
He then slid it over to Di Maria, who brilliantly beat Lloris one on one.
France's sluggish display led to boss Didier Deschamps taking drastic measures - making TWO substitutions just five minutes before half-time.
He withdrew attackers Dembele and Olivier Giroud - replacing them with Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram.
Messi's World Cup final boots featured a nod to Antonela and the kids.
The Argentine star is wearing a pair of specially customised Adidas X Speedportal Leyenda boots.
His youngest child, Ciro Messi, has his name and date of birth stitched alongside the side of his left boot.
Messi's wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, also has part of her name "Anto" below Ciro's.
On the outside of his right boot bares the name of his other children and their dates of birthday: "Thiago 02 11 12" and "Mateo 11 09 15".
Argentina eventually ran out winners on penalties after a 3-3 draw in one of the greatest matches ever played.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
After Lionel Messi's side raced into a 2-0 lead, Kylian Mbappe fired a rapid-fire brace to take the game to extra time.
Messi and Mbappe would then net again in extra time to send the game a shootout Argentina won 4-2 on penalties.
