In the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022, we will experience Argentina vs France at Lusail Stadium (Lusail) on Sunday (18th December) evening.
The two-time WC winners Argentina (1978 and 1986) are ready to face another two-time WC champions France (1998 and 2018), who are also the defending champions in this tournament. The winner of this match will be the fourth team, after Brazil (5 times), Italy (4 times) and Germany (4 times), to win at least three FIFA World Cup trophies.
ARG vs FRA Match Details
Match: Argentina vs France
Stage: Final
Date: 18th December 2022 (Sunday)
Time: 18:00 local time/AST (UTC+3); 20:30 IST
Venue: Lusail Stadium, Lusail
ARG vs FRA Match Preview
Both Argentina and France are deserving teams to play in the Final of the World Cup 2022.
Though Argentina started this competition with a shocking 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia, which also broke their 36-match unbeaten streak, La albiceleste made a strong comeback as a team and mostly maintained dominating performances on the field. However, their defence experienced hiccups in the late moments of some games, which put them in difficult positions (vs Saudi Arabia, vs Netherlands).
The defending champions France are battling with major fitness issues before the beginning of this tournament as Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Christopher Nkunku, Mike Maignan and Karim Benzema had been ruled out ahead of their start in this competition. However, Les Bleus have proven their incredible depth in the team as the remaining players majorly produced strong performances on the field. Except for their 1-0 defeat against Tunisia, which didn’t affect their position in the Group Stage, France majorly proved themselves as strong characters in this World Cup.
In their 12 official meetings, Argentina won six games, France won thrice, and the other three had draw results.
In the meantime, it will be their fourth meeting in the FIFA World Cup history. While the South American side won the WC 1930 and 1978 group stage clashes, the European team won the Round of 16 battle in the WC 2018.
Recent Form (starting from the latest)
Argentina (ARG): WW(D)WW (Note: Argentina ultimately won the drawn game through a penalty shootout)
France (FRA): WWWLW
ARG vs FRA Team News
(Argentina)
Lionel Messi reportedly missed a recent training schedule due to hamstring pain. However, there is no strong news of his doubtfulness about the WC 2022 final. We also believe that if Messi is unfortunately unavailable for the starting line-up, this news will only break out during the official line-up announcement. The football world wants to see LM10 in the WC 2022 final.
Due to his ankle injury, Lautaro Martinez has been taking pain-killing injections throughout the tournament.
Angel di Maria’s fitness is also questionable, as the 34-year-old only played for around 10 minutes in the last three games, including staying on the bench twice.
Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel, who missed the semi-final match against Croatia due to two yellow card suspensions, will be available for the final match.
Check here Argentina’s Squad for FIFA World Cup 2022 & Team Profile , FIFA World Cup 2022: Argentina - World Cup Records and Stats and FIFA World Cup 2022 - Argentina records in World Cup knockout stages
(France)
Though France's camp was going through sickness with flu-like symptoms, including Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano, all the players trained ahead of the big final match of the tournament. So, we can expect that Didier Deschamps will be able to start with the best line-up in the latest fully available squad.
ARG vs FRA predicted starting lineups
Argentina (ARG): Emiliano Martínez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Marcos Acuña; Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister; Lionel Messi (Captain), Julián Álvarez
France (FRA): Hugo Lloris (Captain); Jules Koundé, Raphaël Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurélien Tchouaméni, Adrien Rabiot ; Ousmane Dembélé, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé; Olivier Giroud
ARG vs FRA Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: H Lloris (7 cr)
DEF: N Otamendi (8.5 cr), T Hernandez (8.5 cr), M Acuna (8 cr), N Molina (8 cr)
MID: A Griezmann (9 cr), Aurelien Tchouameni (8.5 cr), Enzo Fernandez (8.5 cr)
FW: L Messi (9 cr), O Giroud (9 cr), K Mbappe (9 cr)
Vice-captain: K Mbappe
Captain: L Messi
Stay tuned to Fantasy Football and 2022 FIFA World Cup for upcoming matches and updates.
