ARGENTINA VS FRANCE
The end of the Qatar World Cup, which is waiting for every football fan around the world, is near.
Rivals France is aiming to retain the title, while Argentina is trying to regain the title it lost in 2014. The match will be played at Lusail Stadium, Doha, at 8.30 p.m. There is no doubt that the Argentinians will fight for this title at any cost, as it could be superstar Lionel Messi's last World Cup.
Angel Di Maria, also known as the Angel of the Albicelestians, will take to the field for his final international match. So a step in the right direction would be the biggest gift these two legends could give to the Argentina team. But opponents are not so simple. France is the defending champions. Whether Molina and Romero can keep up with Mbappe's pace remains to be seen.
And the Argentinian players are sure to sweat hard to overcome the challenge Giroud poses on aerial balls. It is impossible to predict who will win. Both teams lost one match each in the group stage. Whoever wins the title will be their third champion. While Argentina put their hopes in Lionel Messi, French fans put their hopes in Kylian Mbappe. The goal of both teams is to prevent passes from reaching both players as much as possible. The last time the two teams met at the World Cup in Russia, France won (4-3). Argentina will enter the field to make up for the defeat that day.
However, Argentina has won six of their head-to-head matches. France won three matches. Three matches were tied.
Messi and Mbappe (5) are also in the Golden Boot race. Therefore, if one of them scores a goal today, he will get the golden boot. Messi, who performed brilliantly with 5 goals and 3 assists, is currently the most likely to win the Golden Ball. Anyway, if he wins the title, the star can own a handful of more records.
It is reported that all the French players infected with the virus have recovered. Anyway, with only hours left for the final in Qatar, we can eagerly wait to see who will win the title.
WIN PROBABILITY
Argentina:-36%
France:-34%
Extra Time:-30%
MATCH SCHEDULE
Date:-18/12/2022
Time:-8.30 PM (IST)
Venue:- Lusail Stadium
INSIGHTS
1) Argentina is competing in their sixth World Cup final, with only Germany (8) appearing in more. They would attempt to lift the trophy for the third time in 1978 and 1986, but defeat would see them tied for the most World Cup final defeats in history (4, level with Germany).
2) France has reached the World Cup final for the fourth time since 1998 (1998, 2006, 2018, 2022). Reigning champions Les Bleus are looking to become the third country to win back-to-back World Cups after Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962).
3) This is the fourth World Cup between Argentina and France. La Albiceleste has won two of their previous three but lost their only such encounter in the knockout stages, a 3–4 defeat in the 2018 round of 16. Overall, this is the 13th meeting between Argentina and France in all competitions for Les Bleus. They have won just three of the previous 12 (D3 L6), but the most recent was a 4-3 win at the 2018 World Cup.
4) France is unbeaten in their last 10 World Cup matches against South American nations (W6, D4). Their last defeat was against Argentina in the first group stage in 1978.
5) This is the eleventh World Cup final contested between a South American and a European country; South American teams have lifted the trophy 10 times before. However, Argentina has been responsible for two of the three defeats by South American teams (against Germany in 1990 and 2014), while France has been responsible for the other victory (3-0 against Brazil in 1998).
