Qatar 2022: What You Need To Know About France vs. Argentina In The World Cup Final

This weekend’s match between France and Argentina at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar will serve as the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The match is the final of a 64-match competition that has included plenty of thrills and surprises.

The last two teams standing are ones that many people would have predicted to win the competition.

France vs. Argentina is a match that is dripping with drama. The defending champions are trying to win back-to-back titles, while the South Americans are headed by a talisman who is yearning to win the one big trophy that has eluded him during a distinguished career.

Here are the details you should be aware of before to kickoff about this anticipated blockbuster.

Where and when is the World Cup championship match?

On Sunday, December 18, the Lusail Stadium hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup championship game. The game will begin in Qatar at 18:00 local time.

Lusail City, some 20 kilometres north of the centre of Doha, is where the venue is situated. It will be the largest stadium at the 2022 World Cup with a capacity of slightly under 89,000, according to the organisers.

If the stadium is completely full, this will be the largest World Cup final crowd since Brazil defeated Italy on penalties at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena during the USA ’94 event.

The 22nd World Cup will come to a close with the game on Sunday.

Who will officiate the big game?

In only his second World Cup as a referee, Polish official Szymon Marciniak, 41, will oversee the championship match. Both teams will be acquainted to him since he has already overseen them in the competition.

READ ALSO: Qatar 2022: Croatia Wins Bronze At The FIFA World Cup

Marciniak monitored France’s victory over Denmark in their group stage match, issuing a total of three yellow cards (and just one for France, to Jules Kounde).

He also officiated Argentina’s victory over Australia, where he only showed the Socceroos two yellow cards.

Marciniak has, at least thus far, avoided receiving a red card during the competition.

Compatriots Pawel Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz, who will serve as linesmen, while fourth official Ismail Elfath of the US will assist Marciniak.

Tomasz Kwiatkowski of Poland, Juan Soto of Venezuela, Kyle Atkins of the United States, and Fernando Guerrero of Mexico are the designated VAR officials.

ARGENTINA

What is the record of Argentina in World Cup finals?

In their history, Argentina will compete in their sixth World Cup final. In their previous finals, they had two wins and three losses.

The first occurred in 1930 at the inaugural World Cup when they were defeated 4-2 by hosts Uruguay in Montevideo.

For their subsequent opportunity to win the World Cup, La Albiceleste had to wait another 48 years. In the 1978 championship match held in Buenos Aires, they triumphed, defeating the Netherlands 3-1 during extra time.

Argentina’s 1986 victory over West Germany in the championship game of the World Cup in Mexico, led by Diego Maradona, meant that the country didn’t have to wait long for its second World Cup victory.

Despite dropping their initial match against Cameroon, Argentina advanced to the World Cup final at the Italia ’90 competition.

Maradona and company finally came up short, losing the championship game 1-0 to Germany at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

When Argentina made it to the 2014 FIFA World Cup final in Brazil, they played in the following football championship.

They were once again denied by the Germans, who at the Maracana crushed the hopes of a team led by Lionel Messi with an extra-time goal from Mario Gotze.

How did Argentina make it to the World Cup final in 2022?

Argentina, despite experiencing a seismic shock in their initial match against Saudi Arabia, has advanced all the way to the final in Qatar.

If they triumph on Sunday, Lionel Scaloni’s group will join Spain (2010) as the only groups to have lost their first World Cup game before winning the tournament.

Following the surprise victory over Saudi Arabia, Argentina defeated Mexico and Poland by scores of 2-0 to finish first in Group C and, crucially, avoid France in the round of 16.

The match versus Australia ended with a 2-1 victory, which was closer than many anticipated.

Argentina then won their quarterfinal encounter against the Netherlands after blowing a two-goal lead late in the game and winning on penalties.

The South American champions defeated Croatia 3-0 in the semifinal match, which turned out to be a lot easier than expected.

FRANCE

What is the history of France in World Cup finals?

Three times before, France has reached the World Cup final, twice emerging victorious.

Football’s most coveted trophy was first won by France in 1998 when they served as the tournament’s hosts. Talisman Zinedine Zidane captained a squad that was built around Marcel Desailly’s stellar defence and included current France head coach Didier Deschamps to a stunning 3-0 victory against Brazil.

Eight years later, though, Zidane was punished for headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the Olympiastadion final in Berlin, turning him from hero to villain in what is now regarded as one of the most notorious red cards in football history.

Later, France would lose a penalty shootout.

If France wins on Sunday, they will become just the third side in history to win back-to-back World Cups, the first being Pele’s Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

They would eventually win three World Cups in total, moving ahead of Uruguay and Argentina in the all-time standings. Only Germany and Italy would be ahead of France on four, followed by Brazil on five. (However, if Argentina wins on Sunday, the same will apply to them.)

How did France reached the final of the championship in Qatar?

The French national team’s road to the FIFA World Cup has not been without incident, much like that of their opponents on Sunday. A number of injured talents, including N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, and Karim Benzema, have left the team.

France struggled in their third Group D match, losing to Tunisia by one goal after thrashing Australia in their first game and narrowly defeating Denmark 2-1 in their second.

However, if that defeat had the potential to create some unease within the French camp, all such worries were allayed when they easily defeated Poland in their first knockout encounter.

A tougher test had in store for England in the quarterfinals, but a missed penalty by Harry Kane assured that they would falter once more and that France would advance as 2-1 winners.

Morocco, one of the World Cup’s surprise surprises, awaited France in the semifinals, but there was no happy ending for the first-ever African team to compete in the tournament’s final four as France won 2-0 to advance to their second straight World Cup final.

Is Messi’s moment here at last?

The stage is perfect for Messi to leave the World Cup on a strong note after failure in his performances at four previous tournaments.

Messi, 35, has long been spoken in the same sentence with football legends like Pele and Maradona. But even though Messi had a career full of numerous personal honours and an enormous collection of club championships, neither of those two icons assisted their respective countries in winning the World Cup.

When he led his team to their first Copa America title since 1993 last year, the Argentine captain finally put an end to his long trophy drought. However, if he can add the World Cup to his personal collection, he will be that much closer to cementing his position as possibly the greatest player in the history of the sport.

Messi has already had a historic tournament in Qatar. During Argentina’s victory over Australia, he played his 1,000th career game. With 11 goals, he has surpassed Gabriel Batistuta as his nation’s leading World Cup scorer.

When he participates in his 26th World Cup game on Sunday, he will set yet another record, passing German icon Lothar Matthaus for first place on the all-time list by one.

When he led his team to their first Copa America title since 1993 last year, the Argentine captain finally put an end to his long trophy drought. However, if he can add the World Cup to his personal collection, he will be that much closer to cementing his position as possibly the greatest player in the history of the sport.

Messi has already had a historic tournament in Qatar. During Argentina’s victory over Australia, he played his 1,000th career game. With 11 goals, he has surpassed Gabriel Batistuta as his nation’s leading World Cup scorer.

When he participates in his 26th World Cup game on Sunday, he will set yet another record, passing German icon Lothar Matthaus for first place on the all-time list by one.

With five goals each, Messi and Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain are equal for first place in Qatar’s Golden Boot standings. However, Messi has provided more assists than Mbappe, with three to his pair.

Unlike Mbappe, Messi has experienced heartbreak in a World Cup final previously when Argentina lost to Germany in 2014—despite the fact that he was the tournament’s Golden Ball winner.

Which managerial track records do the two have?

Only three people—Mario Zagallo of Brazil and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany—have won the World Cup as both a player and a manager. If France defeats Argentina on Sunday, Didier Deschamps, 54, would become the first of those three to win it twice as a coach.

Along with Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo (1934 and 1938), Deschamps is about to become the only coach to win back-to-back World Cups, a record made even more amazing by Deschamps’ captaincy of France to the trophy in 1998.

Not bad for a guy who Eric Cantona once disparaged as a “water carrier.”

Contrary number Another former player, 44-year-old Lionel Scaloni, earned seven caps for his nation during his playing career.

He was hired to the top position in Argentine football after the country’s World Cup failure in 2018 and guided them to their 2021 Copa America victory as well as setting them up for history in Sunday’s World Cup final.

The facts and data for both indicate that they are difficult to distinguish from one another. Deschamps has led France to 64.5% victories, while Scaloni has led Argentina to 66% victories.

Who will triumph in the end?

We are unable to provide a conclusive solution to your query.

Even while several oddsmakers have tipped slightly in favour of France as the tournament nears its conclusion, Argentina significantly leads France in the official FIFA world rankings, placing third to France’s fourth.

The bookies are approaching so-called “pick’em” area when estimating each side’s chances, as with any high-stakes game of this nature.

The bookmakers appear to be of the opinion that Argentina has not yet encountered a team with the same level of firepower as Les Bleus.

However, in their hardest test to date against England, France struggled at times and was fortunate to avoid extra time as a result of Harry Kane’s missed late penalty.

Against Morocco, Deschamps’ team was put under a lot of pressure as well, but they once again prevailed.

Particularly, the vivacious Antoine Griezmann has been a major component of the French midfield and unquestionably one of the tournament’s best players.

Even at the age of 36, Olivier Giroud is still Mr. Reliable. He has scored four goals so far in Qatar, where he has surpassed the previous record for most goals scored by a national player.

And of course there is Mbappe, who plays up front with explosive pace and has the ability to create something out of nothing.

Julian Alvarez, Messi’s 22-year-old striking partner, has been a sensation for Argentina. The Manchester City player defeated Croatia with a hat trick, giving him a total of four goals for the competition.

However, there are a number of intangibles at work. Will Messi be able to get past a bothersome hamstring ailment in one of the most important games of his career?

How potentially serious are the claims that a virus is disrupting French team preparations, with defensive duo Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate the most recent team members to become ill?

How will all of those elements come together to create 90 minutes of football (and more) at the Lusail Stadium as the month-long festival comes to a close?

Will Messi, the maestro, or Mbappe, his PSG student, be the one to make the difference?

On Sunday in Qatar, we’ll get a little bit closer to having these issues resolved.