The last two nations from the 32 that qualified for the finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar battle it out today in the final for the gold medal.
Argentina faces defending champion France in the final of the World Cup at the Lusail Stadium, with the Les Bleus aiming for a back-to-back victory.
Prior to today’s final, the South American and European giants played each other 12 times, with Argentina holding a 6-3 head-to-head edge over France.
The remaining three matches ended in draws while their most recent meeting was during the World Cup in Russia when France defeated Argentina 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Argentina’s 2022 campaign began with a defeat to Saudi Arabia by a score of 2-1, but they went on to defeat Mexico and Poland by identical scores of 2-0 to advance to the round of 16.
La Albiceleste defeated Australia 2-1 in the knockout stage to advance to the quarterfinals, where they defeated the Netherlands 2-3 on penalty shootouts following a 2-2 tie in regulation and extra time.
They went on to beat Croatia 3-0 in the semifinals to book a spot in the final.
On the other hand, France got off to a great start in Qatar, crushing Australia 4-1 and defeating Denmark 2-1 to advance to the knockout round before falling to Tunisia 1-0 in their last group-stage encounter.
They defeated Poland 3-1 in the round of 16 and England 1-2 in the quarterfinals, and later condemned Morocco to a 2-0 defeat in the semifinals to set up a date with Argentina in the final.
FACTS TO KNOW
- Argentina are undefeated in their last 5 matches at the World Cup.
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in Argentina’s last three matches.
- Argentina have scored at least 2 goals in their last 5 matches in the World Cup.
- France have won 9 of their last 10 matches at the World Cup.
- France have been winning at both half-time and full-time in 5 of their last matches at the World Cup.
- France have scored at least 2 goals in 6 of their last 7 matches at the World Cup.
Messi vs Mbappe
There has been a lot of talk about the matchup between Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi tonight, as the two PSG players compete for the golden boot honour.
In 477 minutes of play, Kylian Mbappe, who is probably one of the best young players in the world, has also scored five goals and given two assists. He will attempt to win his second World Cup trophy after winning it in 2018.
PREDICTION, BETTING TIP, AND ODDS
This will be an evenly-matched game; the first half will most likely end 0-0, but the chances of both teams scoring in the second half are very high. Try 1X @1.8 FOR A DRAW IN THE FIRST HALF.
