Sunday afternoon at the Lusail Iconic Stadium. Reigning champions France face Argentina to close out the Qatar 2022 tournament. A superstar that could win the World Cup at the end of his glorious career against a superstar that has won it at the beginning of his. The world is divided – the romantics and those in love with the old guard would love it for Lionel Messi to underline his CV with the label of a World Cup winner (pretty much the only trophy he is missing) while those who look into the future and believe it will always be better than the past support Kylian Mbappe, who already won the planetary tournament four years ago and could have two under his belt at the age of 24 already (he turns 24 in two days).The headline act of a sparkling World Cup 2022 program commences – two giants of international football strive for supremacy in a mouthwatering showpiece.France not worried about hostile atomspehere at the World CupSunday’s final will mark the 13th meeting between Argentina and France in all competitions, with the South American champions picking up six wins so far compared to just three for their European counterparts, while another three have ended all square. However, the most recent showdown between the two sides ended in a thrilling 4-3 Bleus win during the 2018 World Cup last 16, with that Benjamin Pavard thunderbolt still lingering in the memory of the France fanbase.La Albiceleste came up trumps in the first two World Cup clashes between the two teams in 1930 and 1978, and there have only been three occasions where Argentina and France have both scored in this clash of the titans.Croatia edge Morocco to win World Cup bronzeYes, this is a clash of two footballing countries, but it also needs to be seen from an individual point of view. It is Messi’s last chance’ and while all of his teammates are trying to win the gold for their country, at the same time (perhaps even with more passion), they want to win it for their idol and comrade. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has ticked nearly every box that there is to be ticked on his footballing checklist, except for the big one, and the script-writers are already busy drafting the act of Messi lifting the iconic trophy aloft in what will be his farewell World Cup match.As eloquent as the Paris Saint-Germain attacker has been during the Qatar tournament, one man alone cannot steer his nation to the biggest sporting event on the globe. Nicolas Otamendi has rolled back the years in defence, Enzo Fernandez could become the next nine-figure footballer, and Julian Alvarez has clearly taken a few leaves out of his strike partner’s book.A little less than a month ago, Los Gauchos opened up their 2022 World Cup account with a shocking loss to Saudi Arabia and it stirred a lot of negative predictions and speculations for Lionel Scaloni’s crew. Argentina woke up after that surprise but were close to elimination again in quarter-finals when the Netherlands brought a roller-coaster of a match to penalty shootouts.The South Americans maneuvered through all of that – denying Croatia a second successive appearance in the showpiece event with a 3-0 victory in the final four. Only Spain in 2010 have also managed to propel themselves to World Cup glory after losing their opening match of the tournament – a sixth World Cup final is now on the cards for the 1978 and 1986 champions and the Spaniards could be joined by Messi & Co. this evening.On the other hand, three showpiece events have ended in tears of despair for Argentina already – including the 2014 edition – and they could now equal Germany’s unwanted record of losing a joint-high four World Cup finals.Listen to this man – he’s been the only one to beat Messi and Argentina so farAs far as the European side of the finals match goes – well it has been more than interesting. No Paul Pogba? No N’Golo Kante? No Karim Benzema, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner? No problem for Didier Deschamps. The World Cup-winning player and manager – one of only three men with such a title on their CV. Les Bleus have been plagued with injuries and absences of some of their big stars but even so, plowed through the competition with little to no uncertainty.Nearly everything that could go wrong for France did go wrong before they boarded their flight to the Middle East. A myriad of injuries to key players, perpetual controversy off the field and an almost unthinkable relegation from the Nations League, which they just about managed to stave off. And now, the French step out onto the Lusail turf as the first holders in 24 years to participate in the final, which they booked their tickets for courtesy of a 2-0 win over African trailblazers Morocco in the semi-finals.Deschamps’ men will play France’s fourth World Cup final, following in the footsteps of Italy and Brazil as they could be just the third nation to ever win back-to-back World Cups. Also, they became the first reigning champions to progress to the final since the Brazil team of 1998, whom they coincidentally saw off in that showpiece event.Not since the 1978 group stage have France suffered defeat of any kind to a South American nation in the globe’s premier competition (that was against Argentina).France and Argentina before the World Cup final pic.twitter.com/W7QUUg5V6F— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) December 17, 2022 As for the rosters and line-ups – the two clashing sides will most likely not deviate from what brought them success during the tournament. La Albiceleste should only be working with one injury doubt in the form of Alejandro Gomez, who is not fully over an ankle sprain and may only make the bench at best. Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel are at Scaloni’s disposal once again, after they were forced to watch the semi-final from the suspension step (they picked up their second bookings of the tournament against the Netherlands). Acuna can feel confident of taking Nicolas Tagliafico’s place in what will most likely be a four-man backline. Montiel is fighting a losing battle to come in for Nahuel Molina on the right while Lisandro Martinez is restricted to substitute minutes again.Hearts were in the mouths of every Argentina fan when Messi was pictured having trouble with his hamstring in the semi-finals but chances for him not showing up in the finals are laughably low. When he steps out on the pitch this afternoon, he will become the outright record-holder for World Cup appearances with 26. Angel Di Maria (who was forbidden to play in the World Cup finals eight years ago by his then-club Real Madrid) is eager to take center stage and Leandro Paredes will probably be the one sacrificed.On the other end, issues come as peculiar. The constant air conditioning in Qatar claimed its next victims in Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot, while Kingsley Coman was also feeling under the weather before the semi-finals and has now reportedly been joined in the sick bay by Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate. All five players are said to have reported back for training over the weekend, but with their immune systems working overtime, Les Bleus’ doctors will still need to give a last-minute green light. Rabiot and Upamecano are understood to be feeling better and should apply for places in the starting line-up.🇦🇷 Argentina: 1978, 1986🇫🇷 France: 1998, 2018Who will claim the illustrious third star in tomorrow’s World Cup final? ⭐️⭐️⭐️ pic.twitter.com/8WsUTJEo5l— 90min (@90min_Football) December 17, 2022 Konate deservedly earned high praise for his performance against Morocco but is reported to be feeling worse than Varane, so Deschamps will still be expected to bring Upamecano back into his tried-and-tested formula, while Coman was never likely to push for a starting role anyway.Kylian Mbappe will resume his individual battle with fellow five-goal star Messi for the Golden Boot. The 23-year-old would become the youngest-ever player to net in more than one World Cup final should his attacking endeavours prove successful, and he will be supported by creator-in-chief Antoine Griezmann, who has fashioned a tournament-high 21 chances for his teammates so far.Left-back Theo Hernandez took a couple of blows to the knee against Morocco, but that is not expected to jeopardise his place in the starting lineup for the final. Olivier Giroud was mocked for his lack of statistical participation during the previous World Cup but he is surely getting the last laugh if he and his teammates lift this one also, as he has been outstanding for Les Bleus this time around.So – there we have it folks. It all comes down to this afternoon in Doha. The world of football will either be ruled by the French for four years more or the Argentinians will take the trophy back to their land after 36 years. Back then, it was Diego Maradona who brought tears of joy to the nation – now it could be his rightful successor, Lionel Messi.On the night before the World Cup final… pic.twitter.com/FaV5xpaGMF— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 17, 2022 QATAR 2022 WORLD CUPTHIRD-PLACE MATCHSaturdayCroatia – Morocco 2-1 (2-1)/Gvardiol 7, Orsic 42 – Dari 9/WORLD CUP FINALSunday18.00: (2.90) Argentina (3.05) France (2.85)***odd are subject to change
