- 18/12/2022, 16:00 CET
- Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail
- Argentina holds a 2-0-1 lead over France in the World Cup.
- In 2018: France – Argentina 4-3; in 1978: Argentina – France 1-0; in 1930: Argentina – France 2-1
Argentina vs France
The final of the World Cup. If the match is drawn, half-hour extra time will follow and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out.
Argentina
It”s a team that adapts to the challenges of a game and Scaloni should be credited for that. They lost possession early against Croatia, but it was their counter-attacking play that put them ahead, leading to Messi’s spot-kick goal. Alvarez made it 2-0 with a lot of persistence and even more luck, so the 3-0 came as a logical development in the second half.
The whole country of Argentina is living and breathing for the massive final against France, hoping that leader Messi will finally be crowned “king” of the world. Reports say that around 82,000 Argentinian fans are expected in the 88,000-seat stadium of Lusail!
Acuna and Montiel have served their one-match suspension and are back. However, only the former is likely to be in the starting line-up instead of Tagliafico, with Molina keeping his place at right-back.
France
France has not been impressive, but they win. As they did against England, where luck was on their side, it happened against Morocco. They took an early lead but were threatened in the second half before finally making it 2-0 through Kolo Muani scoring with his first touch of the ball in the 79th minute.
For about 24 hours (after the semi-final) there was a Benzema story of rejoining the team for the final, but it was decided not to go to Qatarafter all. There is some background, but it certainly doesn’t affect the match hugely, or if it does then it’s a positive development because it shows the belief towards the players currently in the squad and there would be a risk of altering the chemistry in the team.
The virus alarm was also silenced on Saturday as all of Deschamp’s players trained as normal. The two central defenders who are in the best possible shape between Upamecano, Varane and Konate will start the match, with the first two having the advantage.
Giroud faced an injury in the last training session and is now a doubt. Lucas Hernandez is injured since the premiere of the tournament.
Argentina vs France prediction
The game is completely evenly balanced, with the bookmakers wavering on the favourite for the final. We reckon the most likely result is 1-1, but there could be one more goal in the 90 minutes. A sending off or a moment of magic from Messi or Mbappe could tip the scales to one side or the other, so our recommendation -aside from the exact score- is a total of 2-3 goals.
We predict: 2-3 goals @ 2.00
We predict: 1-1 Correct Score @ 6,50
