There is only one more match left before fans can see two previous World Cup winners fight for the 2022 World Cup trophy. If Argentina wins, they will be the second team to have lost their World Cup opener but ended up as the tournament winners. The first to do this was Spain against South Africa in the 2010 World Cup Final. France, on the other hand, will be the second team to have lost only one match in the tournament before possibly winning the World Cup.
Argentina and France have shown to be formidable teams in this year’s World Cup. Both teams ended up ranked first in their respective groups in the group dominated their way to the finals. According to FIFA rankings, it’ll be No. 3 and No. 4 playing against each other. When comparing the teams, France and Argentina have a strong set of players.
Since this is Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, many fans consider him the key to Argentina’s victory. Messi has been the star for many games in the World Cup this year. He is leading the stats for many categories with 5 goals, 3 assists, 27 shots, 14 shots on target, and 4.75 expected goals. In addition, he has won the most Man-of-the-Match awards.
While he only scored 5 goals in the tournament, he along with Julian Alvarez and Rodrigo De Paul have carried the team to most of the team’s victories. In the semi-finals match, it was Julian Alvarez who secured the team’s win with two goals. De Paul, on the other hand was a key player for many goals and has earned the World Cup record of 137 accurate passes.
France, meanwhile, is facing some bad luck with sick players. Recently it’s been reported that there are players experiencing flu-like symptoms. The latest victims have been said to be Adrien Rabiot and Kingsley Coman. This is not the first hurdle that the team had to face. At the start of the tournament, the team lost several key players to injury. They included their best midfielders N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba.
Even with key players missing on their team, France remained a strong opponent in the tournament. They are currently tied with England as the team with to score the most goals. In addition to this, several players have achieved personal records in the World Cup.
AC Milan forward Olivier Giroud made history for ‘Les Bleus’ when he became his country’s all-time leading goalscorer in the France vs Poland knockout round match. In the France VS England match, Hugo Lloris broke the record by reaching his 143rd cap, playing in a 2–1 win against England in the quarter-finals
Before this year’s tournament, the two nations have met three times in previous World Cups. The very first time the two met in the World Cup was in the 1930 World Cup group stage in Uruguay, which Argentina won 1-0. The two met again in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina but France ended up losing to Argentina 2-1 in the group stages. They met for the third time in the knockout rounds in the 2018 World Cup and France managed to win 4-3.
This year, fans are looking forward to seeing club team mates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe go against each other. Both players have been recognized as star players for their respective teams and share an equally strong record as both have 5 goals in this year’s World Cup,
With how formidable the teams have been in the tournament so far, it’s safe to say that the final game will be and action-packed match.
