After 64 pulsating matches and a record 172 goals, Qatar brought the curtain down on the first ever winter World Cup that had delivered stirring twists and turns right till the very end.

For what was surely his last dance at football's biggest tournament, Lionel Messi cemented his place in the pantheon of the game's greatest legends after leading Argentina to their first World Cup triumph in 36 years.

After finally getting his hands on the trophy that had eluded him throughout his glittering career, Messi achieved immortality. The seven-time Ballon D'Or winner added football's most prestigious prize to a list of laurels that includes one Copa America, four UEFA Champions Leagues, 10 Spanish La Liga titles and a French Ligue 1 crown.

There is no denying that this was Messi's World Cup. The 35-year-old was consistently electrifying throughout this tournament. 

Messi is the first player in history to score in the group stage, round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final in a single World Cup. No player had ever won five man of the match awards at a World Cup before. Messi did it at 35 in Qatar. He is also the only player to notch at least an assist in five World Cups.

As the first player to win two World Cup Golden Ball awards, Messi smashed Germany icon Lothar Matthaus' all-time appearance record of 25 and holds the record of playing the most number of minutes at the tournament (2,314), surpassing Italy defender Paolo Maldini, who appeared for 2,217 minutes.

While it was a fairytale end for Messi, his heir apparent Kylian Mbappe's place in World Cup folklore is also assured.

The 23-year-old French superstar is the first ever player to score a final hat-trick since England striker Geoff Hurst in 1966 and the youngest to reach double figures for goals in World Cup history. He is also one of only six players to score in two separate World Cup finals. Mbappe took his total to 12 in the competition overall and pipped Messi to the Golden Boot at Qatar 2022.

Meanwhile, Lionel Scaloni, who has been an incredible success since he took charge of Argentina in 2018, became the youngest coach since 1978 to win the World Cup at 44 years old. With this final triumph, Scaloni has joined the rank of all-time Argentina coaching greats alongside former World Cup winners Carlos Bilardo and Cesar Luis Menotti.

As Morocco made history by becoming the first ever African and Arab team to advance to the World Cup semifinals, their ever-dependable Yassine Bounou eventually became the first African goalkeeper to record three clean sheets in a single World Cup.

While Bounou's heroic saves and Youssef En-Nesyri's header were enough to condemn Portugal and their all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo to a shock early exit at the World Cup, Portuguese striker Goncalo Ramos had a tournament to remember.

After replacing Ronaldo in Portugal's starting line-up against Switzerland, the 21-year-old Benfica sensation netted three times in quick succession and became the first player to score a hat-trick on his first World Cup start.

Ramos is also the youngest player to score a World Cup hat-trick since Hungary's Florian Albert in 1962, and the youngest player to accomplish this feat in a World Cup knockout tie since Brazil legend Pele in 1958.

As a fringe player, Ramos had not played international football until last month and barely featured in the group stage of the tournament. He almost became the forgotten man of the European powerhouse.

But through sheer force of will and resilience, Ramos has finally written his name into the World Cup history, and that's what this unorthodox Qatar campaign is really about.