Argentina vs France LIVE: Mbappe and Co look to spoil Messi’s last chance at glory in epic World Cup final – latest
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.
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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.
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How did Argentina get to the final?
Argentina suffered a nightmare start to their tournament with a shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia.
But they battled back to top Group C with 2-0 wins over Mexico and Poland, setting up a last-16 meeting with Australia.
And after seeing off the Socceroos, they scraped past Holland on penalties in the quarters before breezing past Croatia.
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Lusail City Stadium
Take a look at where the grand finale will be played today.. a thing of beauty.
Credit: Getty 
Credit: Getty -
In the last episode
France pipped Argentina to a thrilling 4-3 win when the sides last met in a round of 16 World Cup encounter four years ago.
Kylian Mbappe’s double in four minutes turned out to be the difference maker despite Argentina holding a second-half lead.
Lionel Messi failed to have much impact on the game as the French stars kept him quiet for the majority of the time.
But he’ll be determined to get revenge and help Argentina snatch the trophy away from France in this afternoon’s final.
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Head to head
This is how Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe square off going into this match
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Welcome to the WORLD CUP FINAL
Good morning SunSport readers and welcome to our final live coverage of the 2022 winter World Cup.. time really does fly when you are having fun.
The Qatar tournament has brought excitement, happiness, pain and heartbreak, but it ends with a tantalising final between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and world champions France – and there is so much on the line.
Messi, 35, has the chance to seal his international career in the most perfect way possible should he lift the World trophy this afternoon.
And the Argentinian magician currently leads the way in the golden boot race courtesy of assists provided at the tournament.
But having tasted World Cup success once already, French mogul Kylian Mbappe will be determined to get his hands around that trophy again.
Furthermore, he is level on goals scored with his PSG teammate Messi so it’s all set up to be a blockbuster.
Stay tuned as coming up, we will be bringing you, gossip, team news and the starting XI all before kick-off at 3pm GMT.