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.
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.
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.
