The two finalists of the FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022 have been confirmed. After almost a month of fighting, Argentina from South America and France from Europe have reached this year’s final. While France had an easy trip to the group stage, Argentina was under pressure after losing their first match to Saudi Arabia. But Messi’s team won the ticket to the final without losing any match. Let’s take a look at Argentina vs France final match preview and know which team has a great chance of winning the Football World Cup.
Time and Venue of the FIFA World Cup Final Argentina vs France Match
Argentina and France will meet in the final at Lusail Stadium next Sunday (December 18) at 9 pm Bangladesh time.
Argentina vs France: Head-to-Head Records So Far
Both teams have faced each other in 12 matches so far, which includes 8 international friendly matches, 1 independent match, and 3 on the World Cup stage.
In 1930, the two teams met for the first time in the first edition of World Cup football, where Argentina beat France 1-0. Since then, the two teams have faced each other in a total of 12 matches, where Argentina won 6, France won 3, and 3 matches have been drawn.
Out of 3 matches played in the World Cup, France won 1 against Argentina’s 2 wins. That, too, was in the last sixteen matches of the 2018 Russia World Cup. In that match, France beat Argentina 4-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
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How Did Argentina Reach the FIFA World Cup Final 2022?
Two-time world champions Argentina stepped into the Qatar World Cup with 36 matches unbeaten record to break the 36-year title drought. But Argentina got upset in that mission after losing against Saudi Arabia in their opening match. In the end, after overcoming the issues, team Argentina is in the finals of the tournament. The Argentines have beaten Mexico, Poland, Australia, Netherlands, and Croatia to reach the final.
Argentina is passing through the World Cup just like a dream, and its main driver is Lionel Messi. In every match, Messi’s great performance seems to be building the result of the match. In the last World Cup of his career, Messi is playing with all his heart. Even in the twilight of his career, the Argentinian superstar’s performance on the field is reminiscent of the young Messi.
Overview of Argentina’s Performance in the World Cup 2022
Let’s see a recap of Argentina’s journey at the Qatar World Cup 2022
Saudi Arab 2: Argentina 1
On November 22, Argentina played the first match in Qatar World Cup with Saudi Arabia. The undefeated team of 36 consecutive matches went ahead with Messi’s penalty goal in 10 minutes. But in the second half, Saudi Arabia, which is number 51 in FIFA banking, entered the field with a new spirit. Saleh Alshehri scored in the 48th minute, and Salem Aldawsari scored the winning goal in the 53rd minute.
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Argentina 2: Mexico 0
On November 26, Argentina signaled to come back after defeating Mexico. Coach Lionel Scaloni was worried after not seeing a goal in the first half. But goals from Messi and Enzo Fernandez in the second half saw the Albiceleste’s return to the tournament.
Argentina 2: Poland 0
Teams confidence almost went down after losing to Saudi Arabia in the first match, regained their confidence in the last match of the group stage when they beat Poland 2-0. The 1978 and 1986 World Cup champions advanced to the knockout stage as group winners thanks to goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez.
Argentina 2: Australia 1
This match was the 1000th of Messi’s career and the 100th as captain of Argentina. With the magic of his left foot, Argentina easily reached the last eight. And Alvarez’s scored the winning goal in the 57th minute.
Argentina 2 (4): Netherlands 2 (3)
This match on December 9 surely boosted Argentina to play the final. Molina and Messi’s goals in the match led Argentina first. But the Dutch equalized in injury time. Ultimately, the fate of the match is decided by a tiebreaker. The match, however, will long be remembered for the spate of fouls and yellow cards involving players from both teams. The Spanish referee Antonio Lahoz showed a total of 15 yellow cards in the entire match.
Argentina 3: Croatia 0
Argentina faced Croatia in the first semi-final. The Croats, who had sent Brazil off, were expected to pose a tough challenge. However, Croatia did not care about coach Scaloni’s excellent strategy and the incredible performance of Lionel Messi. Messi scored the first goal from the penalty. The other two goals came from the feet of Argentina’s new sensation, Alvarez.
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Key Players to Watch in Argentina’s Team
Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez, Alexis Mac Allister
Argentina’s Statistics in the FIFA World Cup Finales So Far
The statistics of the FIFA World Cup final do not give much comfort to the Albiceleste. Argentina played the final five times and won the title only two times. Argentina played the first final on the world stage of football in 1930. At the end of the first half, Argentina was leading 2-1 against the hosts Uruguay. But at the end of 90 minutes, they had to leave the field with a 4-2 loss.
Argentina had to carry that loss for 57 years. Finally, in 1978, Mario Kempes wrote the fairy tale. Argentina’s nearly six-decade-long wait is over. The Albiceleste defeated the Netherlands 3-1 in the final of the tournament at home thanks to a pair of goals by Kempes. Argentina played the final again in 1986. This time, under the leadership of Maradona, they defeated the powerful West Germany 3-2 in Mexico and brought home their second title.
The following year Maradona reached the final again. In 1990, Argentina’s dream was shattered in the 85th minute of a match in Italy. West Germany took revenge for the previous tournament and won 1-0.
After a long 24 years break, Argentina entered the finals again in 2014. The fans were waiting to forget the misery of 1990 under the leadership of Lionel Messi. But this time, the previous incident was repeated too. Mario Gotz snatched the title for Germany in the 23rd minute of extra time.
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How Did France Reach the Final of FIFA World Cup 2022?
Title defender France was the top favorite in the 2022 World Cup. However, there was a concern about France as they started the journey without stars like Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, and Christopher Nkunku due to injuries.
However, there is a goal machine like Mbappe in this team. There are also extraordinary forwards like Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembele. All apprehensions were thus blown away at the outset, and France advanced like a king. Poland and England failed to stop France in the knockout stages despite stumbling in Tunisia in the last group stage match. Mbappe and Giroud have done a good job of scoring goals.
Didier Desham’s team has reached the final after beating Morocco 2-0 in the second semi-final game on Wednesday night. Hernandez led France with an excellent goal in just 4 minutes and 39 seconds after starting the match.
So far, this goal has been listed as the fastest goal in a World Cup semi-final game since 1958. Brazil’s Vava scored within two minutes of the game against France. Randal Kolo Muani scored France’s second goal shortly after being substituted in the second half.
Overview of France’s Journey in the FIFA World Cup 2022
Following is the recap of France’s journey at the Qatar World Cup 2022.
France 4: Australia 1
1998 and 2018 World Cup champions France started the tournament with a great win. They beat Australia 4-1 in their first match in Group D. Adrien Rabiot, Olivier Giroud, and Mbappe scored in that match.
France 2: Denmark 1
The next match in the group stage was not easy at all. France went ahead with Mbappe’s goal in the 61st minute, but Denmark equalized seven minutes later. If Mbappe did not score again in the 86th minute, the result of the match could have been different.
Tunisia 1: France 0
Didier Deschamps started the match with an almost new team against Tunisia on November 30 as they assured the knockout stages with two straight wins. However, the nine players from the bench could not make use of the opportunity. However, Tunisia saw this as an advantage, and Wahbi Khazri took the opportunity and scored in the 58th minute and giving Tunisia a memorable victory.
France 3: Poland 1
Mbappe looked fitter and more energetic against Poland after a one-match rest. The result was an easy 3-1 win. Oliver Giroud scored the first goal, but Mbappe did not let anyone share the other two goals.
France 2: England 1
In the quarter-finals, England was a very tough challenge in front of France. Luckily Harry Kane missed the golden opportunity to score the second goal of the match with the penalty; otherwise, who knows what would have been written in the fate of France at the end of the match!
France 2: Morocco 1
Morocco became the first country in Africa to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup by defeating teams like Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. But France did not allow their dream journey to be long. Theo Hernandez and Kolo Muani’s goals floated Mbappe’s team to the final.
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Key Players to Watch in France’s Team
Kylian Mbappé, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann.
France’s Statistics in the FIFA World Cup Finales So Far
In their first three semi-finals in 1958, 1982, and 1986 France failed to advance to the final. However, they won all their semi-finals after that and entered the final each time and won all four times in 90 minutes. After becoming the champion in 1998, he became the runner-up in 2006. They became champions again in the 2018 Russia tournament. Italy and Brazil have won two consecutive World Cups in history. With the upcoming final, the French have the opportunity to share the record with these two teams.
Probable Starting SquadFrance vs Argentina Final Match:
Argentina:
Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Acuna, De Paul, Paredes, Fernandez, Mac Allister, Messi, Alvarez
France:
Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Konate, T. Hernandez, Rabiot, Tchouameni; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud
2022 FIFA World Cup Final Argentina vs France: Match Result Prediction
It is difficult to predict the outcome of this game. However, France is the current favorite to win, as they have a strong team and a good track record of success in World Cup tournaments. Argentina has also been very impressive in this World Cup, so the game could go either way. But according to SportsMole’s data analysis, Argentina has a 38.08% chance of winning, while France has 35.33%. However, there is a 26.59% chance for a draw in the first 90 minutes.
Final Words
Four years ago, France beat Argentina 4-3 in the second round on their way to winning the World Cup in Russia. However, France coach Didier Deschamps sees a lot of differences between the team Argentina and the current team. This year Argentina is different under Lionel Scaloni. Along with that, Messi’s great rhythm was also a threat to France.
On the other hand, Mbappé, Giroud, and Griezmann trio can destroy Argentina easily. So, we have to wait until Sunday to see the winner of the Argentina vs France World Cup final 2022.