Home ›› 18 Dec 2022 ›› Sport
It all boils down to this. After 63 matches, where emotions escalated and heartbeats harrowed, the stage is now set to crown the World Champion for the next four years.
It’s Argentina vs France. Both teams waiting to sew that third star over their badge. For one, it’s the chance to end the waiting of 36 years. For the other, to become the first nation in this century to achieve back-to-back titles.
But when the margins are narrowed and narrowed, it comes down to a battle between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. The two PSG players, at contradictory poles of their careers, are sharing the spotlight ahead of the clash in Lusail, and it is for a justified reason.
Messi, considered a perennial failure for Argentina by many, will play his sixth international final for the Albiceleste tonight, which will also be his last dance at the grandest stage of the global game. For him, it’s a chance to have the absolute fairy-tale ending with a win, and his performances in the World Cup thus far have proved that he is somewhat interested in achieving so.
Since their shock defeat to Saudi Arabia, Messi has, expectedly, been the destroyer-in-chief for Argentina. He scored in every game except the one against Poland, where his penalty was saved and pulled off one sumptuous assist after another in the Quarter-final and Semi-final.
Besides him, Argentina have seemingly gotten only better as the tournament progressed. They struggled against Saudi Arabia and Poland, and suffered in patches against Australia and Netherlands, but provided a near-perfect performance in the final four clash against Croatia to book their final berth.
Messi’s strike partner, Julian Alvarez has added a different dimension to their attacks, and the midfield of Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, and Alexis Mac Allister has found their feet. While their defence is indeed a worry, Nicolas Otamendi and Christian Romero have also improved as the tournament progressed.
But ahead of their second final in the last three editions, Argentina’s biggest worry will definitely be Mbappe. The 23-year-old, along with Messi and teammate Olivier Giroud, is the top goal scorer of the tournament with five goals, but it will be more his speed and acceleration that will be a worry for Lionel Scaloni.
Mbappe could not find the net in the last two knockout games against England and Morocco, but those sides had quick full-backs in Kyle Walker and Achraf Hakimi respectively to stop the Frenchman at full speed, something Argentina do not have the luxury of.
Alongside that, the French team at Didier Deschamps’ disposal, despite their several injuries, is stacked with talent, meaning that they will pose a huge threat even if Mbappe is neutralised.
Antoine Griezmann, playing as more of a midfielder this World Cup, has been in superb form and has guided their play. Besides him, striker Giroud, who would have been sitting on the bench if not for Karim Benzema’s injury, has scored five goals already.
Their midfield has looked consistent with Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot finding their feet, while Raphael Varane has managed to reproduce his performances from the last World Cup to prove their backline is good enough to stop any attack.
While France have several injury concerns as Varane, Ibrahima Konata, Rabiot, and others are suffering from a cold, while for Argentina, there are concerns over Messi’s hamstring muscle, which he was seen aggravatingly touching throughout the match against Croatia, where he scored once and assisted another.
With all that said and written, the headlines, after the final, are likely to focus on the Argentine skipper, irrelevant of the result. The final in Maracana saw him return bare-handed in 2014, and eight years on, he once again has his shot at the holy grail.
Whatever happens in Lusail, the adjectives will be abundant. Either Messi gets his dream closure, or Mbappe wins his second World Cup by the age of 23.
You can call it a passing of the torch, or maybe the ascension to Olympus. Only time knows. Only time will tell.
