End of GOAT debate: ISL players laud Argentina and Lionel Messi after FIFA World Cup 2022 triumph

Capturing the imagination of millions, or rather, billions of footballing fanatics across the globe, Lionel Messi, draped in a glistening Argentine kit, completed football and even every side mission the beautiful game had on offer on Sunday night (December 18). Putting an end to 36 years of wait, the diminutive Argentine led La Albiceleste to the coveted FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy.

Three goals from Argentina, including two from Messi, weren't enough to edge past defending champions France in 120 minutes of arguably the most frantic World Cup final the world has witnessed.

In the opposite corner, a 23-year-old Kylian Mbappe, someone who had already tasted divine glory four years back, kept punching back with a hat-trick.

As the game rolled into the dreaded penalty shootout, it was calling for a hero. For Argentina, it arrived. In the shape of Emiliano Martínez. With his antics and saves. the Aston Villa custodian carried them over the line as Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman failed to convert their chances for the Les Blues.

Gonzalo Montiel gleefully took the deciding penalty to win the much-desired trophy for Argentina and for Messi. As fireworks went off in Lusail, in Buenos Aires, and in the great man's hometown of Rosario, the superstars of the Indian Super League (ISL) also joined in the celebrations.

Sunil Chhetri - India's brightest footballing jewel and the individual who has been giving Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo a run for their money when it comes to the international goals tally - hailed the summit clash as the greatest game of football he has ever watched.

Other Indian footballers, including Sahal Abdul Samad and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, joined the conversation on social media.

Meanwhile, ISL's very own Argentine, Jorge Pereyra Diaz, celebrated his country lifting the World Cup trophy in quite a fashion.

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Cristiano Ronaldo fan Michael Soosairaj extends his respect to Lionel Messi after the World Cup victory

The debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is endless. Thoughts are free and people believe what they wish to. But Odisha FC's Michael Soosairaj, who is a fan of Messi's arch-rival, extended his respect to the Argentine magician.

However, for Soosairaj's teammate Narender Gahlot, the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time) debate is "forever" over. With Messi clinching the greatest trophy in football, which eluded him for over a decade, Gahlot believes no other words are needed to cement Messi's immortal greatness.

While his fans for years have partaken in heated debates surrounding his greatness, Messi has been on a unique journey enveloped with emotions of every wavelength.

The 35-year-old never desired his illustrious career to overshadow his compatriots or his predecessors.

All the Rosario-born ever dreamed of was being the silver lining that made even the gloomy skies a poetic afterimage.