Lionel Messi picked up the World Cup in a black bisht – a traditional men’s cloak in the Arab world – as he was asked to put on the garment before being handed the trophy.
The Argentine led his side to a dramatic victory on penalties after an astonishing 3-3 draw with France at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Doha.
But as the 35-year-old stood waiting to be given the trophy, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, presented Messi with a bisht similar to the one he was wearing.
Messi appeared non-plussed at first but put the garment on, before taking the trophy and going to lift it with his team-mates. It meant his Argentina shirt was partly obscured when he lifted the trophy in front of a watching audience of billions.
Messi discarded the Bisht shortly afterwards, and appeared to be wearing an Argentina shirt with three stars on it, signifying his country has now won three World Cups.
The incident came shortly after Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez courted controversy by celebrating his Golden Glove award with a lewd gesture. The Aston Villa goalkeeper held the trophy, a giant gold-plated hand, to his groin and waved it about.
The incident is unlikely to take the shine off the event for Messi as he finally won the World Cup to cement his status as arguably the world’s greatest ever player. Messi scored the opening goal from the penalty spot as Argentina took a 2-0 lead before Kylian Mbappe scored twice in 97 seconds to send the game to extra-time.
Messi appeared to have won it with a goal from close range in the second period of extra-time before Mbappe sent it to penalties by scoring his own spot-kick to become just the second man in history to score a World Cup final hat-trick.
Martinez was the hero, though, saving from Kingsley Coman before his mind-games played a part in Aurelien Tchouameni shooting wide as Argentina won the shootout.
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