Argentina-France is the final of the 2022 World Cup and will be played on Sunday at 16:00: news, statistics, likely formations, predictions, TV and streaming
Two peoples, two continents, two absolute phenomena of world football, one goal: to sew the third star on their chests. The controversial and anomalous 22nd edition of the World Cup – the first in history to be played in the autumn – concludes with one of the potentially most gripping and fascinating challenges, even though the two finalists have never clashed in the last act of the most important event.
Argentina, led by Lionel Messi in a Maradonian version, will try to dethrone reigning champions France, who could instead follow in the footsteps of Vittorio Pozzo’s Italy, capable of doing the encore in 1934 and 1938, and O Rei Pelé’s Brazil, the only selection together with the Italian team able to triumph in two consecutive editions (’58 and ’62). Of course, it was also the World Cup of surprises. No one will forget the moving ride of Morocco, the first African team to reach the semifinals, or the exploits of Japan and Croatia: it is hard to imagine that they would have gone so far. But Qatar 2022 could not ask for a better final than this: a popcorn epilogue, with the generational duel between Leo Messi and Kylian Mbappé, teammates in the Psg – whose ownership is Qatari – but rivals for one night.
Missioned
Argentina had landed in the Middle East with enormous enthusiasm, a sentiment that now seems to have accompanied the Selección since their summer 2021 Copa America triumph. In that Brazilian summer, it was as if the famous spark had been ignited: the group huddled around its star, Lionel Messi, who had never before won with the Albiceleste national team. Having shaken off that burden, the Pulce finally assumed the role of charismatic leader. And, at 35 years of age, he has the chance to take Argentina back to the roof of the world 36 years after the last time and erase the painful memory of the 2014 final, the one with Higuain’s clumsy mistake and Gotze’s goal in extra time that gave Germany victory.
Yet Argentina’s adventure had not started under the best auspices, quite the contrary. The defeat they suffered against Saudi Arabia (1-2) in the opener remains a heavy humiliation. But perhaps it is thanks to that ‘slap in the face’ – a salutary one at that – that Lionel Scaloni’s men found the strength to reach their sixth World Cup final.
The selector adjusted his aim, changing the module and inserting three key players (Fernandez, Mac Allister and Alvarez), who together with Messi’s prowess proved fundamental in overcoming the obstacles of Mexico, Poland, Australia, Holland and Croatia.
The eighth and fourth quarters proved to be rather painful. With Australia, beaten 2-1, Argentina had the demerit of keeping their opponent alive until the last minute, risking conceding the equalising goal. With the Netherlands (2-2), on the other hand, they conceded two goals in the final minutes and it took penalties (and a stunning Martinez) to put things back on track. The best match was probably the semi-final against Croatia, annihilated 3-0 by goals from Messi and Alvarez. Strangely, the only one in which Argentina adopted a wait-and-see attitude, leaving control of the ball (39% of possession) to the Croatians and chastising them on the counter-attack.
France turn on when they want to
Slightly less circuitous is the path of France, who have always closed out matches in the 90th minute so far. Didier Deschamps’ battleship, which many initially considered to be inferior to Brazil and Argentina – perhaps due to too many injuries that had plagued the eve of the departure to Qatar – has almost always given the feeling of having everything under control, of being able to turn the light on and off at will. Mbappé, five goals like Messi – by the way, the top scorer title is also at stake in Lusail – is just the icing on the cake.
In addition to the Psg ace, devastating with his accelerations, Deschamps took advantage of the great quality of the individuals: Giroud’s flair for goal, Griezmann’s spirit of sacrifice, Theo Hernandez’s raids, and so on and so forth.
In the group, France closed the accounts after the first two matches – victories against Australia and Denmark – then lost the irrelevant challenge against Tunisia (1-0). The eighth match against Poland (3-1) was without history, while the fourth against England (1-2) was decidedly more complicated, requiring a bit of luck (missed penalty by Kane) to avoid extra time. There was also a hard-fought success in the semi-final against Morocco (2-0), who, despite having gone into the lead after just a few minutes, made it very difficult for France, who were put under for the second time in terms of play as they had been against the English.
The previous
The two finalists of Qatar 2022 will face each other for the 13th time in their history, but only on three occasions have they done so in a World Cup. The tally sees Argentina in front, having beaten the transalpine national team six times, while suffering three defeats. There have only been three draws.
There was a distant precedent in 1930, the first edition of the World Cup in Uruguay: the Albiceleste won 1-0 with a goal by Monti (later naturalised Italian and champion in 1934 with the Azzurri). Argentina also prevailed in 1978, beating the French 2-1 in their home World Cup, which they then won by beating the Netherlands in the final. More recently, the last head-to-head in a World Cup: the round of 16 in Russia 2018, won 4-3 by France thanks to a brace from an unstoppable Mbappé.
Argentina-France: latest line-up news
Scaloni plans to reintroduce the 4-4-2 seen against Croatia, which ensures good coverage of all areas of the pitch. Two lines of four to cage in Mbappé as much as possible, who was left out against both England and Morocco, who were good at limiting him. Acuna and Montiel, who were disqualified in the semi-final, will be available again, but the two full-backs should be Molina – the former Udinese player will play a key role along with De Paul, his partner also at Atletico Madrid, on the left flank – and Tagliafico. Di Maria will be on the bench again and the Messi-Alvarez duo will be confirmed up front.
In Argentina, there are no injury problems: the only one not at his best is Papu Gomez, who is struggling with an ankle problem.
On the other hand, there is great apprehension about the so-called ‘camel virus’. Rabiot and Upamecano were unable to play in the semi-final because of the flu, which also reportedly affected players including Coman, Varane and Konaté, who have not trained and risk not being able to take part in the final. Deschamps is also concerned about the condition of Tchouaméni and Theo Hernandez, who came off badly in the match against Morocco. According to the latest news, there would be no problem for Upamecano and Rabiot, who will be in the match, as will Tchouaméni and Hernandez. In case Varane doesn’t make it, he will be replaced by one of Disasi or Pavard.
The Prediction
Total balance: even the bookmakers aren’t going to tip their hand on the potential winner. The feeling is that we could see a real chess match for large parts of the match, in which individual duels and, of course, the play of individuals could be decisive. France, for the way they have been able to come out of complicated situations, has perhaps a few more chances to lift the cup, but in our opinion it remains a match with an open prediction, which could very well end in extra time. Also watch out for Messi’s will to win, for whom it will be his last World Cup. Both, in any case, are likely to score at least one goal each, having hardly ever failed to score here in Qatar.
Argentina v France line-ups
- ARGENTINA (4-4-2): E. Martinez; Molina, Otamendi, Romero, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, E. Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez.
- FRANCE (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Koundé, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Tchouaméni, Rabiot; Dembélé, Griezmann, Mbappé; Giroud.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1