ARGENTINA will be determined to snatch France’s crown in a tantalising World Cup final THIS AFTERNOON – and it’s not to be missed.
Croatia fell victim to a Lionel Messi masterclass in Tuesday’s dominant semi-final encounter as Argentina went through.
But things will certainly be tougher for the little magician as he will be taking on a French side that managed to stop high-flying Morocco in their semi-final.
However, it’s all set up for Messi to bow out on a perfect note with the golden boot up for grabs too… unless Kylian Mbappe has something to say about it.
- Kick-off time: 3pm GMT
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer and ITV X
- TV channel: BBC One and ITV
- Argentina XI: To follow
- France XI: To follow
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What is the team news and any injuries to worry about?
Neither side have any suspensions to deal with after yellow cards were wiped after the quarters and may well be unchanged after semi-final wins.
Argentina can welcome back full-backs Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel from their one-match bans while Lisandro Martinez may return to the starting XI if Lionel Scaloni goes for a back five.
Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot sat out of the Morocco win with illness as France kept their first clean sheet – but will be hopeful of coming back in.
The rest of the team should stay the same – although Karim Benzema could be a shock inclusion on the bench as he is back in Real Madrid training.
Who will be the star men?
Well, obviously Messi and Kylian Mbappe are the two main men for their respective nations – and all eyes will be on who comes out on top.
Elsewhere, Julian Alvarez will want to continue on from his two goals in the semi-final while Enzo Fernandez may be tasked with stopping Antoine Griezmann.
On the other side, Griezmann and Olivier Giroud will fancy their chances of scoring in the final.
Aurelien Tchouameni is in strong form in midfield while Raphael Varane will lead his back line.
