The 2022 FIFA World Cup which kicked off on November 20th, ends on Sunday – December 18th, and what a World Cup filled with many twists, surprises, drama, and above all, entertainment it has been! With the 64th game and the Finals of the competition coming this Sunday between Argentina and France, the battle is quite tight and Argentina is tipped ahead of France to just lift this one, but even if they will, they know within themselves that France who has shown character and defended their title until this stage will not make it any easy for the La Albiceletes!
It’s unclear whether we could have a better final, given that it has suddenly boiled down to a Lionel Messi – Kylian Mbappé affair. These two are not just teammates in Paris St. Germain (PAG), they are sitting at the pinnacle of the goal scoring chart with 5 goals each this term in 6 matches, though Messi is leading with more “Man of the match” awards as well as assists!
Kylian Mbappé definitely has so much respect for Lionel Messi, not just because they are teammates, but because of the kind of impact the Argentinian has brought to the game over these years.
Should Lionel Messi win on Sunday, it will completely put an end to the debate with his arch rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, who faced a shocking exit to Morocco in the Quarter-finals. Can Messi’s win just elapse the debate of who’s the GOAT? Yes! It should…
However, the little magician, now 35, knows that he has big shoes to fill, not just against France but against Kylian Mbappe, whose love and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t new to soccer lovers.
While Mbappé will be looking to make history with France, as the only country to win back-to-back World Cup titles in 60 years as well as the only player at 23, to achieve such a milestone, he will also be looking to do his idol a favor by stopping Lionel Messi from clinching this much-needed trophy.
Messi has already hinted his retirement after this World Cup. Winning this would mean that the seven time Ballon D’or winner, has won everything that there is to be won in this game. The entire soccer world would only have to sit back and hope for another Messi to be born in the future.
France and Argentina faced-off in the 2018 quarter finals where France come from behind to edge Argentina 4:3, with Mbappé scoring two goals that night.
Messi didn’t get to score during the 2018 match with France in 2018. However, being unstoppable this year, he will undoubtedly cause so many problems for the French side on Sunday, who have managed their injury problems very well. They have had to play the competition this year without Ballon D’or winner Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, and N’golo Kante to name a few!
French Coach, Didier Deschamps, knows that Messi and Argentina are going to throw everything forward on Sunday, and make life difficult for them, but we can credit this coach for the kind of job he has done with this French team. He won the World Cup as a player in that team in 1998 that beat Brazil 3:0 and is now on his second as a coach!
Before this year’s competition, no country had gone past the group stage after winning the competition since Brazil, but France has done more than just enough, which is the reason why anything is possible, even though they’ve only been handed a 47% chance of beating Argentina by pundits.
Away from Mbappe and Messi, France and Argentina go into the finals on Sunday with two World Cup titles each on their sleeves, and both teams would want to make it three. They have all lost one game each this year too, with Argentina tasting that shocking defeat to Saudi Arabia and France to Tunisia. This is why this might be the most interesting final we’ll watch in a while.
So the question is, can Mbappe and France inflict pain on Messi and Argentina yet again on Sunday when both teams meet?
