10 Facts About The World Cup Final Between France & Argentina You Should Know Before Watching It

This year’s World Cup has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride. From stunning upsets to heart-breaking underdog stories, it has been no doubt one of the more eventful World Cups ever in history.

However, as we all know, all good things have to come to an end and for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it will end this weekend.

After two full weeks of back-to-back action-packed matches, the two finalists have finally emerged. Although there were many speculations about who could make it this far, only a handful has doubted the potential of these two teams.

The final game between France and Argentina is a battle of the heavyweights, with both teams having a wide array of skillful players such as Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé on their rosters.

So if you are still not convinced about how exciting this match will be, read on to find out about 10 facts you should know before watching the game this coming Sunday.

France Is not at Its Full Strength

As many of you might already have known from watching this year’s FIFA World Cup, France is a team filled with many star players, such as Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, Hugo Lloris and Theo Hernandez.

However, did you know that their current roster could have been even more stacked?

Unlike Argentina, which is arguably currently at 100% strength, the same cannot be said for France.

This is because many other notable names are currently down with an injury that prevents them from playing in the tournament.

Here is a short list of the players and their clubs:

• Karim Benzema (FW) – Real Madrid
• N’Golo Kante (MF) – Chelsea
• Mike Maignan (GK) – AC Milan
• Christopher Nkunku (MF/ FW) – RB Leipzig
• Presnel Kimpembe (DF) – Paris Saint-Germain
• Paul Pogba (MF) – Juventus
• Lucas Hernandez (DF) – AC Milan

If not for their injuries, almost all the players listed would have probably made the starting 11 for the French team.

Argentina and France Met Three Times Before in Previous World Cups

The upcoming final is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated match-ups of this World Cup, with many superstars clashing against one another.

However, did you know that prior to this year’s World Cup, the two heavyweights had met three times before?

They have previously met in the 1930, 1978 and 2018 World Cups, with Argentina defeating the French team in 1930 and 1978 while being beaten by them in the round of 16 in 2018.

Aside from meeting in the World Cup, the two have also met in nine other international games, where Argentina was victorious in five of them while France was victorious only in two of them, with the other games ending in draws.

France Can Potentially Win Back-to-Back Titles

For those who are not really into Football or have only started watching it recently, you might not know that France was the Winner of 2018’s FIFA World Cup.

The French team beat Croatia 4 to 2 in the 2018 finals to claim their second World Cup.

This year, they have the chance to get their third World Cup and at the same time, become back-to-back champions.

This feat has only been done by two teams in the history of Football and they are:

• Italy in 1934 and 1938
• Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

This is no easy accomplishment and France will need to give their 200% in order to join Italy and Brazil as the only teams to have won back-to-back titles.

Argentina’s Chance for Another Title

If one were to recall how Argentina lost in the 2014 World Cup Finals, one would either be heartbroken or filled with tears of joy.

Back in 2014, Argentina overcame many strong teams to get to the Final match, where they would face Germany, a team that was favoured to win the World Cup that year.

Things went smoothly throughout the match, with the Argentinians fending off the Germans’ relentless attacks to reach extra time.

However, a goal from an unlikely hero, Mario Götze, shattered the Argentina team’s dream of winning their third World Cup that year.

This year, Argentina will get the chance to do what it could not do in 2014. However, their opponents are also filled with energy, as winning this World Cup will cement them as one of the greatest international teams to have ever played.

Superstars on Both Teams Are Teammates

Here is a little fun fact that non-football fans would find quite interesting.

For those who do not know, the two superstars of the respective teams, Messi and Mbappe, are actually teammates from Paris Saint-Germain, a French club that plays in the French League.

In the club, Mbappe would usually play as the Striker of the team, while Messi would usually play as the Right Wing.

Their other notable teammates who have also played in this year’s World Cup are Neymar and Marquinhos from Brazil and Achraf Hakimi from Morocco.

France Team Has Beaten the “Curse”

The curse, dubbed the World Cup’s Champion Curse, is a curse that started with the 1998 French team, who were knocked out in the subsequent World Cup in the Group stage.

This cycle of disappointment would go on for the subsequent World Cup winners, who would fail to get out of the group stage in their next tournament.

With many believing that this year’s France team would be cursed as well, many were proven wrong as the France team easily beat their group stage opponents to move on to the round of 16.

Now, they even have a shot at making history by becoming back-to-back champions.

Last World Cup Game for Lionel Messi

For those who do not know who Lionel Messi is, you have probably been living in a cave for the past 15 years.

Widely known as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Lionel Messi is set to retire from the World Cup tournament after the game against France.

After Argentina’s win over Croatia, Messi said in an interview that the 2022 FIFA World Cup would be his last, citing old age as his reason.

“It is impressive to end up playing a final. There’s a long way to go for the next one, there are many years and surely because of age I won’t get to it.”

The Argentina Forward is 35 years old this year, which means that if he were to play in the 2026 World Cup, he would be 39 years old, an age that many find hard to play well in.

Match Could Signify the Passing of Torch

Widely regarded as one of the two kings of this current generation, Lionel Messi will be looking for the first World Cup in his career.

However, whether or not this match ends as a win or loss for Argentina, there is no doubt that this match could signify the passing of the torch.

Whether you like it or not, we all know that Messi is getting old. With him retiring from future World Cups, it is needless to say that his time in Football will come to an end soon.

This would mean that a new generation of stars will shine, and one who shines brilliantly even among the shiniest of diamonds is none other than Kylian Mbappe, who is regarded as the next “CR7” or “Leo Messi”.

In an interview in September, Mbappe himself said that it is a new generation and it is about time for the new stars to take the lead.

Messi Among the Few with High Involvement Rate in World Cups

Lionel Messi has had one of the greatest careers of all time and his World Cup appearances are of equal status to many others as well.

He currently has 11 goals and eight assists in his five World Cup appearances, making him one of the handful of footballers to have been involved in so many goals for their country.

Other notable players with a high involvement rate are

• Miroslav Klose – 16 goals, three assists
• Gerd Müller – 14 goals, five assists
• Ronaldo Nazario – 15 goals, four assists

Argentina’s Sixth World Cup Final Appearance

Being able to reach the World Cup final is no easy task and Argentina has done it six times now.

Despite the high number of appearances, they have only won two out of five of them thus far, which is still an incredible accomplishment.

The French team, however, does not have so many appearances, appearing only in two World Cup finals before this.

However, unlike their Argentinian counterpart, they won in those two appearances.

In Sunday’s match, the two teams will be playing in their sixth and third World Cup finals respectively and will be looking to bring home the ever-elusive FIFA World Cup.

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Featured Image: Shutterstock (Sbonsi & A. Ricardo)