Lionel Messi strode alone into a single spotlight amid the darkness at Lusail Stadium to finally take possession of the one prize that has remained painfully out of reach.
The 35-year-old Argentina maestro rubbed his hands together in anticipation of his crowning glory, before finally lifting the World Cup to the sky amid an explosion of torches and fireworks.
Messi had accomplished something. The set was complete after the most spectacular World Cup final in history, a game that tore at the emotions and played havoc with the pulse rates before Argentina's icon reached his summit.
He can win seven Ballons d'Or with Barcelona, four with Sevilla, one with Paris St.Germain, and one with Argentina with the World Cup.
It was the one. Messi's millions of supporters will use this trophy as an example of why he is the greatest of all time.
Those with a counter-argument will have an added degree of difficulty presenting their case due to the fact that this trophy is almost 15 inches of solid gold.
Comparisons are expanded over generations, which adds a different frame to all the arguments, but no-one can deny Messi is in the same pantheon as Pele.
Diego Maradona had a strong case for the best. Messi did not have a triumph like his World Cup triumph in Mexico. It has been taken away.
The fact that Messi now has the biggest honor the global game has to offer makes for a more powerful discussion as to his merits.
How do you tell the story of how Messi made it to the top? How do you recount the events that eventually led to Argentina's World Cup win?
It would not be easy for Messi to win this honor, given his history of World Cup disappointment, including a loss to Germany in the final in Rio.
There was a lot of suffering before Argentina and Messi hit the heights of their third World Cup win.
It was done in the face of brilliance from the young Frenchman who will, if he is not there already, join Messi in any debate about the sport's true elite in the future.
The red carpet was being rolled out for Messi's coronation by France. Lusail was Messi's playground as he scored Argentina's opener from the penalty spot, making him the first player in World Cup history to score in the group stage, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a single tournament.
After Messi helped create Angel di Maria's second, the game took a routine course with celebrations starting among Argentina fans until the much-awaited battle with Mbappe was joined in stunning fashion.
With 10 minutes left, he pulled one back from the spot and then volleyed a ball into the air. It was disbelief that Messi's smile stretched across the screens in each corner of the stadium.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni pulled off a masterstroke of selection with the inclusion of 34-year-old Di Maria, who ran Jules Kounde ragged, but then appeared to give way to fatal conservatism by taking him off with his side on top after 64 minutes for the workman like Marcos A
Messi, of course, pulled Argentina round with his second in extra time but France, revived from the earlier mediocre, were level again throughMbappe's penalty.
There was still time for Lautaro Martinez to head wide of an unguarded goal at the other end, but in an atmosphere of near hysteria the Argentina keeper saved with his foot.
The extra time was highly charged and fans were tearing their gaze away from the action.
The game will be talked about whenever the World Cup is discussed after Argentina won 4-2 on penalties.
When Montiel scored the decisive kick, Messi slumped to his knees in tears in the centre circle, his arms raised to the heavens.
There were scenes of celebratory chaos after he claimed a microphone to speak to Argentina's supporters.
Messi won the Golden Ball for the second year in a row, becoming the first player since 1982 to win it two years in a row. He has scored 21 goals for Argentina at the World Cup, more than any other player. He has scored 793 goals in his career. He scored in every round of the World Cup.
On this night, there was one thing that mattered more than anything else. Messi won the World Cup. It was finally at last.
He sat astride the figure of eight stage on which he had received the World Cup with his team, basking in the fact that he can at last fill that one space in his trophy cabinet. It was a stage filled with friends and family of the Argentina squad, their country now back on top of the football world for the first time in 26 years.
Argentina's supporters stayed in their seats for over an hour to pay their respects to the man they depended on. The man was delivering.
It seemed like the opening loss to Saudi Arabia was not that big. It was Messi who got Argentina's World Cup going with a brilliant goal against Mexico and he was unstoppable as he carried it through to the finish.
The golden trophy was in his possession. He came on as a substitute in a 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro in Germany in the 16th century.
The final chapter of Lionel Messi's World Cup story was a tale of suspense from the beginning to the end. It was the perfect end to a night that will always be remembered in Qatar.
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