WORLD CUP FINAL!!
Argentina (+165) v. France (+190)
Flashscore:
After a tournament that’s thrown up several eye-catching upsets, two of the World Cup’s most consistent recent performers will meet in the 2022 final when Argentina and France take the field at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar. This will be the fourth final in five with one or both involved and for the first time since Spain did it in 2010, a side that lost a group game will win the tournament.
Argentina’s defeat came in their opener, when they lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia and it understandably led many pundits and fans to predict an early exit for the 1978 and 1986 champions. But inspired by Lionel Messi they improved to record back-to-back 2-0 wins over Mexico and Poland to qualify for the knockouts.
After beating Australia 2-1, they wobbled against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals when they conceded twice late on, eventually prevailing on penalties before outclassing Croatia 3-0 in the semi-final. So comfortable was that win that they were able to take off key players towards the end, including two-goal hero Julián Álvarez. Messi was involved in both goals after opening the scoring from the spot, with that goal marking a record 11th goal for Argentina at the World Cup.
Back in the final eight years after losing 1-0 to Germany in extra-time in 2014, Messi has said this will be his World Cup swansong so he’ll hope for no repeat of their 4-3 defeat against France in the last edition, although neutrals would certainly enjoy it! Argentina lead the overall H2H record (W6, D3, L3) and won the two World Cup games prior to their 2018 meeting in 1978 and 1930, so history leans on Messi’s side.
France, winners in 1998 and 2018, beat surprise package Morocco 2-0 on Wednesday after scoring the earliest World Cup semi-final goal since 1958. They quickly found a way to break down the tournament’s most stubborn defence, while also keeping their first clean sheet of the competition, after hard-fought knockout wins over Poland (3-1) and England (2-1).
Group-stage victories over Denmark (2-1) and Australia (4-1) enabled Les Bleus to rotate their squad before the knockouts, a contributing factor to their 1-0 defeat by Tunisia, which served to highlight just how important the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann are to their chances of retaining their title and emulating Italy (1934-1938) and Brazil (1958-1962).
It’s therefore worrying that their squad has been hit by illness with Adrien Rabiot, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman unwell in the lead-up to the semi-final, meaning manager Didier Deschamps may have to field some of his other squad players for the final as he bids to become the first manager since Vittorio Pozzo in 1938 to win consecutive World Cups.
