World Cup 2022 Final: France vs Argentina - Who Will Shine?

This is the 11th World Cup final between representatives of the two biggest football nations on the planet, and both teams will compete for the 3rd World Cup championship in their country's history. If they win, France will become the first team in 60 years to successfully defend the World Cup, while Argentina will reach this title after 36 years of waiting.

Besides, the biggest highlight of the match is the two trump cards of each team, veteran Messi and young talent Mbappe. In addition to the fact that both will be a solid foundation for the home team to get closer to victory, this match is also the only opportunity for both to increase the number of goals and assists to reach the noble individual title of World Cup Top Scorer.

From the battle between two excellent generations…

The biggest highlight of this game must be the confrontation between Messi and Mbappe. The 35-year-old veteran captain Messi is considered the brightest star in world football today, with a huge collection of collective and individual titles, but has not won a world championship, while this is the last World Cup in Messi's career. Meanwhile, the 23-year-old superstar Mbappe is considered the best player of the new generation, worthy of continuing the Ronaldo and Messi era, and even has the ability to surpass the level of the two seniors in the future.

Mbappe and Messi lead the list of top scorers at the 2022 World Cup. Photo: VTC News

At the age of 23, Messi has 3 Golden Balls and 2 C1 cups, while Mbappe has never won the UCL or the Golden Ball, but is the key factor helping the French team win the World Cup for the second time in history.

In tonight’s final, if Mbappe can defeat Messi and help France successfully defend the World Cup, this will be the moment to change the “dynasty” in the football world. Both superstars have beautiful footwork, excellent finishing and passing skills. While Messi plays the role of the heart of the team, the pinnacle of playmaking, Mbappe has youth and at the same time has the advantage of speed.

The World Cup championship is always the most noble title that any player wishes to have, and is also a sufficient condition to become the king of football, without encountering opposing views. Although Messi has 7 Golden Balls, 6 Golden Boots, and 6 FIFA Player of the Year titles, he has not won the World Cup gold trophy, so his illustrious career still has a big minus point.

After Argentina qualified for the final, Messi himself admitted that the match would be his “last dance” at the tournament.World Cup. That is why many fans across the five continents hope that his final performance will fulfill his dream of following Pele and Maradona to enter the pantheon of true legends of world football. Meanwhile, if Mbappe successfully defends the World Cup, he will likely win the most prestigious individual title for the first time.

… To the competition with teammates on both sides

The two teams' trump cards, Messi and Mbappe, would not have been able to do so without the support of their excellent teammates. Coincidentally, Argentina's young talent Julián Álvarez and France's striker Olivier Giroud both have four goals each, so both have a scoring record behind their two team's brightest stars, and they still have a chance to win the World Cup's top scorer title if they shine in the upcoming final.

Messi overcame many difficulties to reach the final. Photo source: VTC News

In addition, Argentina also has another excellent young midfielder pair, Enzo Fernández (21 years old) and Alexis Mac Allister (23 years old), who are in good form and have made a lot of impressions; while the French team has striker Antoine Griezmann, and defensive midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni (22 years old), both of whom have had great performances, contributing a lot to the team's playing style and victory. It is thanks to this great support that both teams have scored more than 2 goals in many recent matches.

However, the defense of both teams revealed many weaknesses and mistakes. In the first match, Argentina was defeated by a much weaker opponent, Saudi Arabia, with a score of 2-1, despite having the advantage of leading with Messi's goal on the penalty spot. However, Argentina later improved and stabilized in the following matches, but they still conceded 1 goal to Australia in the round of 16 and especially, despite leading by 2 goals, they let the Netherlands equalize in the final minutes of the match. The defense of the French team also played quite poorly when they conceded goals in all matches from the group stage to the quarter-finals.

France's Konate and Varane may be absent from the final. Photo source: VTC News

Coincidentally, both teams have scored more than 2 goals and not conceded any. Although both teams have problems in defense, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris of the French team and Emiliano Martinez of the Argentine team have been in extremely good form, making many miraculous saves for their teams. It can be said with certainty that both France and Argentina have reached this final match, half thanks to the efforts of their goalkeepers.

France successfully defends the Cup after 60 years or Argentina wins the World Cup titleafter 36 years of waiting?

Argentina under Maradona, France under Zidane, Brazil under Ronaldo De Lima, and Spain under iNiesta all failed to defend their World Cup titles. Will France successfully defend their title after 60 years this World Cup, or will Argentina win the title after 36 years of waiting? Both teams are just one match away from the podium.

France defeated Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 World Cup final to win the championship for the second time. And this World Cup, the French team still has the "old guys" from captain Didier Deschamps to players like Mbappé, Griezmann, Rafael Varane, Lloris - the members of the team that won the highest title at the previous World Cup. It has been 60 years since Brazil won 2 consecutive World Cups from 1958 and 1962, no defending champion has repeated that feat.

Argentina won the World Cup twice in 1978 and 1986. However, 36 years have passed and the team has yet to reach the top. This Qatar World Cup has opened up the opportunity for Argentina to win the World Cup for the third time, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them to realize a burning dream that has lasted nearly 4 decades.

Argentina and France have faced each other 12 times in international competitions, with three World Cup matches and nine friendlies. Argentina have the upper hand, winning six and drawing three, while France have won three. However, the last time the two teams met was at the 2018 World Cup. At that time, in the round of 16, France beat Argentina 4-3 in a match filled with emotion, especially with Mbappe's classy performance with a double. The last time Argentina beat France was in 2009, when the world had to bow down to Messi's divine solo run from midfield, dribbling past a number of French players and finishing with a stunning shot.

Whether Argentina or France wins, victory still belongs to Paris Saint-Germain and the Qatari tycoon.

Paris Saint-Germain is known as the "rich French guy" with huge financial resources, but they are not yet a force in European football, because their achievements in the C1 arena are still extremely modest. That is why PSG always wants to have a top star like Messi (4 times champion of the C1 Cup) in the squad to conquer the UEFA Champions League dream. Leo is the long-cherished dream of the Qatari owners since they bought 70% of the French Club's shares in 2011. And after Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) completely acquired PSG 1 year later, President Nasser Al-Khelaifi contacted Jorge Messi - the father and representative of El Pulga - many times. Therefore, after Messi officially left Barca, on August 11, 2021, PSG officially successfully recruited Messi with a 2-year contract with a 1-year extension clause.

Messi carries the expectations of millions of Argentine fans. Photo source: Vietnamnet.vn

Brand Finance magazine has estimated that Paris Saint-Germain's brand value could increase by 12.7%, to around 887 million Euros, ranking 7th in the list of the 10 most valuable football clubs in the world when Messi is available. According to L'Equipe, within 24 hours from the morning of August 10, there were more than 1.5 million new accounts registering to follow PSG's Instagram page, and about 500,000 page likes from Facebook accounts. In addition, PSG also set a record with more than 830,000 Leo Messi jerseys sold on the first day at PSG, bringing the club a profit of more than 10 million USD.

In addition to successfully recruiting Messi, PSG also succeeded in retaining superstar Kylian Mbappe. In this summer's transfer window, Paris Saint-Germain announced that superstar Kylian Mbappe will stay at the Club until 2025, ending all speculation about a move to Real Madrid.

Since the World Cup began, Barca has been the proudest team, with 17 players playing in this tournament (and 7 players who have left the club recently), followed by Bayern Munich with 16 players. According to Mundo Deportivo's calculations, Barca will receive a total of 3.88 million Euros from the World Cup because of the presence of their players there. More specifically, FC Barcelona will earn 117,216 Euros if Leo Messi wins the World Cup, or 146,000 Euros if Griezmann wins.

Paris Saint-Germain is different, although the final has not yet taken place, but they are the ones with the most pride, because both the trump cards of the two teams in the final are on the payroll of PSG. Regardless of which team wins, the victory still belongs to PSG. This is even more meaningful when the owner Al Khelaifi is from Qatar - the host of the World Cup.

Will France be the third team to successfully defend the World Cup or will Argentina win the World Cup for the third time after 36 years of waiting? Will Messi enter the legendary temple or will Mbappe officially usurp his senior's throne to become the number 1 superstar of world football today? This new milestone will be set on Qatar land at exactly 10pm tonight (December 18). Let's wait and see.