On Sunday, France and Argentina will square off in Qatar’s heavyweight World Cup final matchup.
There is a chance that the current champions will retain their title for the first time since 1962, as no team has done so since Brazil. Despite not always being the most well-liked person, Didier Deschamps is aiming for his third championship and second while leading the national squad. That is quite an accomplishment considering how injured you were before the tournament.
Les Bleus, who secured their spot in the final with a 2-0 victory over African trailblazers Morocco in the semi-finals, will take the field on the Lusail turf as the first champions in 24 years. With a 3-0 victory against Croatia in the final four, Lionel Scaloni’s team prevented them from reaching the championship game twice in a row. As a result, the attention of the pre-match build-up has naturally been on one player.
Form Guide: Argentina
In what might very well be Messi’s final World Cup participation, Argentina has appeared to be a squad of destiny. With five goals in six games, the 35-year-old is tied with Mbappe for first place in the World Cup Golden Boot standings. Along with scoring three additional goals himself, Julian Alvarez, a 22-year-old forward for Manchester City, has forged an effective relationship.
A French team that hasn’t experienced a lot of attacking strength on their path to the final could have issues with Alvarez’s four goals in his World Cup coming-out celebration and his 1-2 combo with Messi. In the quarterfinal game against England, Harry Kane scored, and France needed some luck to hold off England’s aggressiveness. Three Lions held a 2.4-0.9 advantage in expected goals. Alvarez and Messi provide even more technical ability and pace moving forward.
Messi and Argentina will be licking their chops after watching the long stretches of pressure Les Bleus faced in their semifinal against Morocco. The Albiceleste are built well to possess the ball against the France setup and deal with the pace on the counter.
Form Guide: France
The French national team has scored twice in five of the six games they have played in Qatar, and they are in the final for the fourth time in their last seven outings. The lone exception was a 1-0 loss to Tunisia when they started the game without some of their top players. When fellow star Karim Benzema got hurt, Mbappe took over, and Olivier Giroud made the most of his opportunity. Giroud has four goals left to give him 53 goals overall, and Mbappe has five goals in Qatar to give him 33 in just 63 games.
Five assists have been shared by Griezmann and Mbappe, and Theo Hernandez added a goal on Wednesday to go along with two assists. France has 33 shots that are on goal and only allows 20.
The defense should come in with more confidence after holding Morocco scoreless, and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris’ experience in the back is critical. He is the nation’s all-time leader in appearances with 144 and has eight clean sheets in 19 World Cup matches.
The France camp continues to battle with a virus sweeping through the squad, with Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate the latest players to fall ill, just two days out from the final.
How the game could go
These two nations have met three times before at World Cups, with Argentina winning in both the first edition in 1930 and en route to their 1978 triumph on home soil.
However, in 2018, Kylian Mbappe scored twice as eventual champions France won a seven-goal thriller in the last-16 in Russia.
Mbappe vs. Messi. Fernandez vs. Tchouameni. Griezmann vs. Mac Allister. Countless individual battles should decide the destiny of the World Cup in a final where goals are surely a guarantee.
Deschamps’s illness-affected men have rarely managed to find that perfect defensive formula in Qatar and could very well have come out on the wrong end of the scoreline against Morocco on another day, but their penchant for rapid-fire counter-attacks should come to the fore regardless.
However, an Argentina side that has only failed to score more than once against Saudi Arabia can expose Les Bleus’ rearguard shortcomings and channel their defensive acumen in equal measure. Fairytale endings are never a guarantee in football, but viewers around the world can finally expect to witness Messi with both hands on the 18-karat gold trophy.
Betting Predictions
Argentina to Win
We’re backing Messi and co to fulfill the 35-year-old dream of winning the only major tournament that has so far illuded him during his illustrious career. Argentina has won four of their previous five matches against France, two of which have arrived at the World Cup. Argentina looks particularly strong going forward and this French side has struggled somewhat at the back, keeping just one clean sheet in their six games so far. Bet9ja have 2.82, 1xbet have 2.85 and Paripesa have 2.85 odds.
Over 2.5 Goals
Argentina has scored in each of their last 15 games in all competitions, while France has scored in 14 of their last 15 matches in the knockout rounds of the World Cup. Although we don’t see a lot of goals when the world cup final is played, we expect to see both sides gearing to showcase their attacking talent and seal a very glorious win. We can see the goals overflowing in this game. Bet9ja have 2.45 odds, Paripesa have 2.47, and 1xbet have 2.47 odds.
Anytime Goalscorer (Argentina)
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has scored in nine of his last 10 appearances for Argentina (15 goals), also netting against France in a 2-0 win back in 2009. He has had more shots on target (14 – 2.3 per game) than any other player at the 2022 World Cup. Making this selection a very good one he is in the run-in for the golden boot also which shows how prolific he has been all tournament. Bet9ja have 2.75 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 2.50.
Julian Alvarez
Julian Alvarez has scored in six of his eight starts for Argentina (7 goals), including four goals in four starts at the 2022 World Cup. He has such an amazing tournament and it would be hard not to include him amongst the goals today as he has been really good in front of the goal. He scored two against Croatia in the semi-final and we can see him entering this fixture with a lot of confidence. Bet9ja have 3.75 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 4.20.
Anytime Goalscorer (France)
Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe has scored more World Cup goals (9) than any other player across the last two tournaments, with France winning all six games in which he’s found the back of the net, including 2018 final. We can see him going through this Argentina defense and this tournament has proven how much he would influence the future of football in the coming years. Bet9ja have 3.10 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 3.00.
Olivier Giroud The French striker has had a better tournament than his last as he has scored four goals in this year’s edition and could likely score more. He has been an important figure for France this world cup after underperforming in their win in 2018 he can do better here and score too. Bet9ja have 3.85 odds for him to score while Paripesa have 2.60.
Football Lover. All-round junkie of the beautiful game. Could be found watching football most of the time. If not he’s writing about them or making some punditry you don’t agree with. A certain bias for Arsenal and Santos FC.
