Germany protest, Dave the cat and Messi magic

The 2022 World Cup has been a tournament full of spills, thrills, controversy and contention that will culminate on Sunday when Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina take on France in the final.

Here, Football Mad tells the story of the Qatar tournament in pictures.

The opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup took place at the Al Bayt Stadium (Mike Egerton/PA)

Empty Budweiser fridges outside the Khalifa International Stadium after it was announced on the eve of the tournament that the sale of alcohol to fans at grounds had been banned (Adam Davy/PA)

There was further controversy when team captains, including England’s Harry Kane, were told by FIFA they could not wear the ‘OneLove’ armband in matches (Martin Rickett/PA)

England were not permitted to wear the OneLove armband but support for the LGBTQ+ community was on show at Wembley Stadium (Yui Mok/PA)

Germany’s players, meanwhile, made their own protest by covering their mouths as they posed for a team photo ahead of their first match with Japan (Mike Egerton/PA)

The treatment of migrant workers in Qatar was also a big issue. Here, players from the Workers’ Welfare ‘Team 360’ were given signed England shirts and tickets to their opening match against Iran (Martin Ricket/PA)

Gianni Infantino took aim at European critics of Qatar on the eve of the tournament in an extraordinary hour-long monologue (Nick Potts/PA)

England kicked off their bid in impressive fashion with a 6-2 mauling of Iran (Martin Rickett/PA)

Argentina fans turned out in force in Qatar as they hoped to see Lionel Messi follow in Diego Maradona’s footsteps and lift the World Cup (Mike Egerton/PA)

But the two-time champions suffered a huge early shock when Saudi Arabia beat them courtesy of Salem Al-Dawsari’s winning goal (Adam Davy/PA)

Richarlison scored one of the goals of the tournament as Brazil beat Serbia in their first match (Peter Byrne/PA)

Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, was quickly into his stride as he terrorised defences in Qatar (Nick Potts/PA)

Japan’s winning goal against Spain caused an intense debate as to whether the ball had gone out before Ao Tanaka (not in picture) scored, with four-time winners Germany knocked out as a result (Mike Egerton/PA)

Wales were roared on by the ‘Red Wall’ in their first World Cup since 1958 but Robert Page’s men fell at the group stage (Nick Potts/PA)

Senegal fans also made themselves known as their team progressed to the last 16 (Mike Egerton/PA)

Cristiano Ronaldo started well as he became the first man to score in five separate World Cups with his goal against Ghana (Martin Rickett/PA)

But he ended up having to settle for a role on Portugal’s bench (Martin Rickett/PA)

With the eyes of the world watching his every move again (Mike Egerton/PA)

Neymar’s World Cup did not go as he would have hoped either (Nick Potts/PA)

Brazil’s bid for a sixth World Cup success was ended in the quarter-finals by Croatia following a penalty shoot-out (Mike Egerton/PA)

England also paid the penalty as Harry Kane’s miss against France saw them exit at the quarter-finals (Mike Egerton/PA)

But they did not return from Qatar empty handed, with Dave the cat adopted by England as their mascot and being brought back to the UK with the squad (Martin Rickett/PA)

Morocco were the tournament’s surprise package as they became the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final, beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal en route (Adam Davy/PA)

But their brilliant run was finally ended by holders France (Martin Rickett/PA)

Theo Hernandez set Les Bleus on their way to a 2-0 win at the Al Bayt Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA))

Argentina, meanwhile, were making progress, if not necessarily any new friends in the Netherlands (Peter Byrne/PA)

There were 18 yellow cards and one red shown during a fiery and incident-packed quarter-final at the Lusail Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA)

Argentina eventually won the clash on penalties (Martin Rickett/PA)

Argentina will now face France in the final (Adam Davy/PA)

There, Albiceleste captain Messi will be looking to add the World Cup title to record-breaking CV (Adam Davy/PA)