After almost a month of entertainment and drama, the FIFA World Cup is finally coming to an end, with the match between Argentina and France tonight at 9 p.m. Bangladesh time.
Whatever the result of the match might be, it will be historic, as it will either result in Messi finally getting to touch the most coveted trophy in his career or in France being the first nation in this century to win back-to-back trophies.
Although France looks likelier of the two teams to clench the trophy on paper, this Argentina team has a huge edge regarding team spirit and mentality.
While France has mostly stuck to their 4-2-3-1 formation, Lionel Scaloni has changed the formation of his team in every match and more or less successfully exploited the weaknesses of his opponents.
In the final, France might not have some of their vital defensive players in the form of Konate, Varane, and Upamecano, which might make even this stacked France team quite weak, which Lionel Scaloni will definitely look forward to exploiting.
Argentina will mostly look to shut down the passing lanes of Antoine Griezmann, the player who has been absolutely phenomenal in this World Cup with his ubiquitous presence, but the flanks and attack of France with Dembele, Mbappe, and Giroud might be a bit of a headache for Argentina, especially with Mbappe, whose speed might create all sorts of troubles.
In this match, Argentina will look forward to attacking from the middle, with Lionel Messi either operating as a second striker behind Julian Alvarez or a number 10.
Didier Deschamps might take lessons from all the previous finals that Messi lost and deploy Eduardo Camavinga to stay with Messi for the whole 90 minutes, but when it comes to Messi, a moment of magic or two is more than enough to kill the match.
The midfield battle will be more tactical, with this potentially being the deciding factor of the match.
France will try to create a numerical advantage with Griezmann going deep. Still, Argentina might have the edge in the midfield due to the multidimensional nature of the midfielders that Argentina have deployed more or less throughout the World Cup. In contrast, the French midfield has been quite dimensional and predictable.
Argentina might face troubles with the speed of Kylian Mbappe, as there doesn’t seem to be a possible antidote; however, they will look forward to compensating for it with their own counterattacks.
The World Cup final will be a match of tactics and drama. Whatever the result, we will witness a historic final if both teams can exert their full potential.
