World Cup FINAL - Argentina (p) 3-3 France - Sunday 18th December, 2022

[Stan]

Kick-off 15.00 (GMT)

        VS      

 

 

REFEREE - Danny Makkelie (Holland)

 

ROUTE TO THE FINAL
 

ARGENTINA
Group Stage - 1st
Round of 16 - Argentina 2-1 Australia 
Quarter-Final - Netherlands 2-2(p) Argentina
Semi-Final - Argentina 3-0 Croatia

Top Scorer - Lionel Messi - 5
 

FRANCE
Group Stage - 1st
Round of 16 - France 3-1 Poland 
Quarter-Final - England 1-2 France
Semi-Final - France 2-0 Morocco

Top Scorer - Kylian Mbappe (5)

 

Team History in the World Cup

ARGENTINA
Last World Cup Final - 2014 - Germany 1-0 Argentina
Times Won - 2
Runners-Up - 3

FRANCE
Last World Cup Final - 2018 - France 4-2 Croatia
Times Won - 2
Runners-Up - 1

[MUFC]

Am confused, the final isn't till Sunday and Argentina have already been given a penalty. 

[Spike]

I don’t think I have been unexcited for a final till now.

[Carnivore Chris]

 

 

Look how he moves those feet @MUFC

 

[Devil-Dick Willie]

 

[Harry]

I'm reasonably interested in this final, despite the fact it has France in it.

And also in the 3rd place playoff.

Hopefully two good games

[Spike]

12 minutes ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

 

I was thinking of this song today because one of the hosts of ABC news made a joke about it when they were showing the French fans at Champ d’Elysse ‘It’s a busy street’ and his cohost obviously didn’t get it and replied ‘It’s a major shopping district’’. 

[ASF]

Want France to win, to make it 13-9 in WC wins for Europe. And to see the midget cunt crying.

Argentina 1-2 France

[Stan]

1 hour ago, ASF said:

Want France to win, to make it 13-9 in WC wins for Europe. And to see the midget cunt crying.

Argentina 1-2 France

This is very woke of you

[Azeem]

I actually would like to see Argentina win to close the gap with Europe despite the shenanigans of the little tax evading bitch. Can't hate/love an individual in a team sport that much to decide my support.

[Lucas]

When you consider they lost the first game to the Saudi's, it's pretty incredible to see Argentina in this position. No one would have tipped them after that and yet, here they are.

Obviously all the talk is about Messi but that would do a massive disservice to players such as Enzo Fernandez, Julien Alverez and Alexis MacAllister who have grown and had massive tournaments in their own right. They will all leave with bigger credit than what they started the tournament with.

Messi may well be the front man of the band but these guys have emerged from his shadow and supported Argentina's cause when other players have been disappointing (Lautaro Martinez, Angel Di Maria, prime examples).

I would like to see Argentina win for Messi, of course I would, but there's other reasons too.

I love the connect this team and fans have, it's special. The atmosphere in all the Argentina games has been fantastic. Them and Morocco have made it for me from that perspective.

They are not exactly the most talented bunch of Argentine teams gone by or like the Spain that won in 2010 for example, but I love the fight and energy they put into each game. In some cases, it's like they are playing for their lives. No one want's to let down the country. You've sensed them grow as a collective as the tournament has gone on and gain more confidence.

I've got more of a soft spot for Argentina since Bielsa was with us too and after reading his book, I'll always look out for Old Newell's Boys results now and have one of their shirts. I love the passion they have for the game. The connect is there.

France are a bit like a well oiled machine. They know how to win despite not actually being too impressive, and there's nothing to massively dislike about them (Well, now Pogba isn't there) But equally, I've no connect to them at all.

I don't want to see the favourite always dominate, its no fun. France will start the next Euros as favourite, and will probably be a great shout for the next World Cup too with their squad depth and talent emerging. 

I hope Argentina win anyway but if they are going to win, they will need their best performance to date. France can probably afford a 7/10 performance and still win.

[Cicero]

Messi may have declined since then, but it's simply a better team than previous tournaments (2014-2019)

 

- Martinez is a more composed GK than Romero

- Molina and Acuna are far superior than Mercado and Rojo

- Romero is the perfect CB partner to Otamendi (with also Martinez as depth)

- Enzo Fernandez and De Paul are vastly superior to Biglia and Banega. 

- Alvarez and Martinez make Higuain and Aguero look like amateurs. 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

I think France had the strongest side in this world cup and I'm not surprised to see them in the final. But I can't bring myself to ever want France to win - so I really hope Argentina gets Messi his world cup.

[6666]

Rumours are that Benzema could return and if they have the option then they should bring him back in.

France do play better with Giroud and they should start as normal with Giroud up top but bring Benzema on if needed. Best case scenario.

[Spike]

1 hour ago, 6666 said:

Rumours are that Benzema could return and if they have the option then they should bring him back in.

France do play better with Giroud and they should start as normal with Giroud up top but bring Benzema on if needed. Best case scenario.

What? How does that work? He isn’t in the squad

[Lucas]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

What? How does that work? He isn’t in the squad

He was never replaced by someone else and remained on their squad lists throughout the tournament so technically never left the squad.

I could be wrong but I can't see it happening even if Real gave him permission. I don't think Deschamps will bring him into the fold now, it doesn't quite feel right he never stayed there in the first place if there was a chance he could feature later on.

[Spike]

2 hours ago, Lucas said:

He was never replaced by someone else and remained on their squad lists throughout the tournament so technically never left the squad.

I could be wrong but I can't see it happening even if Real gave him permission. I don't think Deschamps will bring him into the fold now, it doesn't quite feel right he never stayed there in the first place if there was a chance he could feature later on.

I don’t see him listed on any squad information though? For all intents it looks like he was removed from the team 

[Mel81x+]

50 minutes ago, Spike said:

I don’t see him listed on any squad information though? For all intents it looks like he was removed from the team 

When the original incident occurred, Deschamps outrightly said he was not going to replace Benzema in the squad as he believed in their depth. This though is a whole other level of belief considering the guy was out for the entire length of the tournament and can now feature in the final which he is ready for and asking to do apparently.

[Spike]

5 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

When the original incident occurred, Deschamps outrightly said he was not going to replace Benzema in the squad as he believed in their depth. This though is a whole other level of belief considering the guy was out for the entire length of the tournament and can now feature in the final which he is ready for and asking to do apparently.

But just because he wasn’t replaced doesn’t meN he wasn’t dropped. This whole thing screams loophole to me and I really don’t like it

[Mel81x+]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

But just because he wasn’t replaced doesn’t meN he wasn’t dropped. This whole thing screams loophole to me and I really don’t like it

It is a loophole and one that France hopefully does need to use but with a guy like Benzema who was in red-hot form before the WC you'd imagine even if Deschamps says hes not going to use him he is definitely thinking about it now.

[Spike]

9 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

It is a loophole and one that France hopefully does need to use but with a guy like Benzema who was in red-hot form before the WC you'd imagine even if Deschamps says hes not going to use him he is definitely thinking about it now.

I’m going for Argentina in that case. 

[Mel81x+]

3 minutes ago, Spike said:

I’m going for Argentina in that case. 

I just heard Aguero is coming back from retirement for this one and they havent removed him from a selection process for 4 years now.

[Spike]

5 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

I just heard Aguero is coming back from retirement for this one and they havent removed him from a selection process for 4 years now.

I was thinking Maradona’s corpse would start in goal

[Machado]

 

[Mel81x+]

2 minutes ago, Spike said:

I was thinking Maradona’s corpse would start in goal

Now Scaloni has some really hard decisions to make.