AGENCIES
December 18: The month-long football World Cup draws to a close today (Sunday) after a mouth-watering clash between the Titans – Argentina and France – in what is anticipated to be one of the most thrilling finals.
Lionel Messi is hoping to crown his stellar career by leading Argentina to World Cup glory at 15:00 GMT (20:45 NST) but Kylian Mbappé's history-chasing France are standing in his way, reports AFP.
According to the BBC, Messi, 35, has won a record seven Ballon d'Or awards - presented to the best player in the world - but never won the biggest team prize in football.
Sunday's final is likely to be his last chance to match the achievement of Diego Maradona, who inspired Argentina to victory in 1986.
Messi – the magician – quite possibly the best the world has ever seen, is heading towards retirement, reports Al Jazeera, adding, Mbappe, the prodigious talent who has scored only two fewer World Cup goals than Messi, but is aged just 23 and is poised to take the 35-year-old Argentinian’s mantle as the best player in the world.
“Argentina teams of recent years may have been built entirely around Messi but as his years advance, his role in La Albiceleste has developed beyond that of nonstop goal machine and into playmaker supreme, empowering his teammates and waiting for that perfect moment to unleash a little magic. And it works.”
Likewise, France is more than Mbappe. Had they had some of their global superstars such as the injured Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante playing, there’s no guarantee the 2018 winners would have made it this far, added Al Jazeera.
However, France’s preparation for Sunday’s final has been hampered by illness to several players.
According to AFP, central defenders Raphaël Varane and Ibrahima Konaté, as well as Kingsley Coman, sat out training on Friday with cold-like symptoms while Konaté replaced Dayot Upamecano in defence for the semi-final against Morocco after he was ruled out by illness, and Adrien Rabiot was also unwell for that game.
Argentina and France are both aiming to win the trophy for the third time, with Les Bleus returning to the final four years after their triumph in Moscow, added AFP.
Back-to-back titles would be a monumental achievement for the side coached by Deschamps – the only teams to have done it previously are Italy in the 1930s and Pelé's Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
The one player they cannot afford to lose is Mbappé, who scored five goals in the team's first four games but was largely kept quiet in the wins against England and Morocco.
