Argentina v France
Will Argentina's Lionel Messi (left) and Emiliano Martinez (second left) be celebrating or will France's Hugo Lloris and Kylian Mbappe (right) get their hands on the trophy again?
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Will Lionel Messi and Argentina win the World Cup or will Kylian Mbappe and France win the tournament?

The Lusail Stadium will host the final between Argentina and France.

Lionel Messi has won seven Ballon d'Or awards but never won the biggest team prize in football.

Argentina has the advantage of having the greatest player of all time and people say France are favorites.

We like to hear that the opponent is the favorite because we don't feel superior.

We have the best player of all time. We have a lot of chances to reach our goal.

France won the World Cup in 1998 and then again in Russia four years later, thanks in part to the leadership of their manager, Didier DesChamps.

Many people around the world are hoping that Lionel Messi will win the World Cup, but we're going to do everything to achieve our goal.

Can Messi help Argentina win World Cup for first time since 1986?

The top two goalscorers in the tournament will go head-to-head to win the Golden Boot. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have both scored five times in the same place.

Germany's Mario Gotze scored the only goal of the game as the Europeans beat Argentina in the finals of the World Cup in Brazil.

The Paris St-Germain player has been the driving force in Argentina.

His country fell to a shock 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia before he scored in the crucial 2-0 win over Mexico. Argentina beat Poland 2-0 and then beat Australia 2-1 in the last 16 to top Group C.

Argentina looked to be in control against the Netherlands as they led 2-0 after 82 minutes, but the Dutch scored twice in the last 11 minutes of the game to force the tie to extra time.

It eventually went to penalties but Martinez saved two spot-kicks as Argentina advanced, before a goal from Messi and two from Manchester City's Alvarez gave them a routine 2-0 win over Croatia in the semifinals.

Argentina won the tournament on home soil in 1978 and in Mexico in 1986 and are hoping for a third victory on Sunday.

Lionel said he was getting emotional because they had given everything. If we win the title, they should be proud, because it's a great time to be alive.

Argentina's Lionel Messi

Sickness bug hampers France's preparations

Kylian Mbappe is chasing his second World Cup success and has been an important part of the French team. France reached the last 16 with a game to spare after he scored twice in the win over the Danes.

Even though they lost to Tunisia, they still won Group D, with Mbappe scoring twice more in the victory over Poland.

They took the lead through Aurelien Tchouameni but Harry Kane equalized with a penalty. France won it after Kane missed a second spot- kick.

France beat the tournament's surprise packages Morocco 2-0 in the semi-finals to reach their fourth World Cup final, having won the competition in 1998 and 2018?

They have been affected by a sickness bug.

Several people have been struggling with illness.

Some people have had flu-like symptoms. "We're trying to be careful so it doesn't spread and players have made great efforts out on the pitch."

We have had to take precautions against it because we are taking all necessary precautions.

Match facts

  • They have met three times before at the World Cup. Argentina won both group matches in 1930 and 1978, but France were victorious in their only knockout encounter, winning 4-3 in the last 16 in 2018.
  • Argentina are competing in their sixth World Cup final, with only Germany (eight) participating in more. They won in 1978 and 1986 and lost in 1930, 1990 and 2014.
  • They could become the second side in World Cup history to lose their opening game and go on to lift the trophy, emulating Spain in 2010.
  • Messi can become the third Argentine player to win the Golden Boot at the World Cup after Guillermo Stabile in 1930 and Mario Kempes in 1978.
  • France have reached the World Cup final for a fourth time, all since 1998. This is twice as many as any other nation in this period.
  • Les Bleus are looking to become only the third nation to win back-to-back World Cups, after Italy (1934-38) and Brazil (1958-62).