In 2018 there was 29 penalties in total. This year there is 17 penalties during the matches (including the final so far), with Argentina getting 5 out of 17.

It is unusual enough to let people wonder.

That’s meaningless without a denominator. All other things being equal, the team with more time spent in the opponents box would be expected to have more penalty kicks.

EDIT: And just as I write this France draws a penalty!

What the hell!!!! It’s a draw now

I have no horse in this fight, just wanted to point out a curious fact.

That said, the denominator/ top team argument only holds if Argentina was the most dominant team in the cup by a landslide (considering the ratio of the total penalties). They weren’t, they performed mostly in the same pack of France/England/ Portugal. Brazil would be the only team that was blatantly more dominant. Another denominator could potentially be number of foul against, and I would be surprised if it is that lopsided.

Doesn’t seem unusual that a top team would get more penalties

True. And reckless challenges seem to be going up in general.

Did someone count the number of cards and penalties against Arsenal last season?

FIFA very possibly wants Argentina to win, not for geopolitical reasons but to sell the Messi legend more.

Ah Plausible - Hero’s journey! Like Hollywood but it always works

Yes. Maybe there is greater commercial value of a Messi + Argentina win. But then now (at 81'), it seems they haven't made up their mind. 2-2.

The longer people watch the game, the better, no?

More in favour of Qatar.

They spend 10 times more than the other countries to host the world cup. They want it to be a big hit. That's why FIFA has been saying that this is the best wold cup ever and bla bla bla.

Ok that looks like game gambling and manipulation much more than geopolitics. Not surprised if Qatar has a fair share there

It's Qatar playing geopolitics. They didn't spend $200+ billion because they love football.

They want something big to show the world. What better than having one of the best players ever win a world cup before retiring?

That's how I see it.

One of the best players in the game was going to win no matter which side won. This looked like a pretty fairly-called contest to me.

But hey, even a 7–1 beatdown of the favorites can make for a memorable and entertaining World Cup.

It's not about France or Argentina. It's about the PSG, a club owned by Qatar (buye... ahem... host of the world cup), where both Messi and Mbappé plays.