France-Argentina Final | Our team’s predictions

Our team’s predictions for the France-Argentina World Cup final.

Alexander Pratt

What was the title of my column three weeks ago? “Croatians motivated by John Herdman gaffe. No, not that one. The following. “France to the end? I believe it. Well, here we are, at the end of this tournament. And France is still there. Proud. Brilliant. Brilliant. One victory away from being the first nation to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil, in 1958 and 1962. Will it be easy? No. In the Argentinian camp, Lionel Messi will want to win this match, more than any other in his life. I expect a legendary performance from him. And if he wins, great. He deserves it.

But the story of the French is equally inspiring. The Blues came here without two of their pillars (Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté), before losing the last Ballon d’Or, Karim Benzema, during training before the first meeting. We know of teams that would have collapsed for less. To see Kylian Mbappé at his peak, Antoine Griezmann creative and Olivier Giroud revived will have been one of the great joys of this tournament. Come on, it’s not time to get off the wagon: 3-2 for France.

Jean-Francois Teotonio

Oh how I’m about to play a dangerous game here. Predicting a final as beautiful and shared as the clash between France and Argentina should be is like asking me to choose my favorite Star Wars film between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Argentina struggled to reach the final. Its defeat against Saudi Arabia, as a curtain raiser, deeply shook it. But she got up and won her next five games with conviction.

At the center of his success: a Lionel Messi at the top of his game. At 35, not only is he playing the best World Cup of his career (his fifth), but his teammates also seem to have found renewed motivation simply to perform alongside him, and help him win. Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis Mac Allister play a solid tournament in the middle. Julián Álvarez emerges as an excellent lieutenant to his captain Messi in attack. The defense, with Cristian Romero and Nahuel Molina in particular, is solid.

Then there is France. For the Blues who were thought to be bruised at the start of the tournament, with the loss of Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, it is quite an achievement to see them again in the final for the second consecutive World Cup. Besides, they were hardly bothered during their entire thirties. There is of course the imposing threat of Kylian Mbappé on the left wing. The efficiency of Olivier Giroud at the forefront. But the player who stands out in this World Cup for the French is Antoine Griezmann. Grizou is in all actions. He becomes a passer, playmaker, even defender on occasion. A workaholic, and the key to this France team.

Well, come on, we have to predict now. I go there with a 2-1 for Argentina. With at least one goal from Messi, for total consecration. (For the curious, the answer on Star Wars: it’s The Last Jedimy favorite.)

Marc Cassivi

The final will be played on details. And one of those details, which is not insignificant, is that Lionel Messi plays for Argentina. He lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany and has been dragging that disappointment for eight years. His teammates play to wash away this affront. They play for posterity: their own and that of their number 10. La Pulga only needs this world title to become, even in Argentina where he has not lived since his pre-teens, the undisputed king. Bigger than Maradona, who brought the last World Cup to Buenos Aires 36 years ago. A year later Lionel Messi was born.

It will be played on details, because this team of France is formidable. Argentina had the jitters losing in a curtain raiser against Saudi Arabia, and even more in front of the Dutch and the magic combination of their free kick of desperation in the quarter-finals. What does not kill you makes you stronger. And the strongest in this World Cup is Lionel Messi.

He is the best scorer, the best passer. He announced himself at crucial moments in the competition. His cross pass to Molina, between the legs of Nathan Ake of the Netherlands, was pure poetry. The way he played off Josko Gvardiol, the young Croatian defender of the tournament, to provide a goal for Alvarez on a silver plate in the semi-finals, was phenomenal. Messi has a knack for unlocking matches with bursts of genius. He who had failed so often with the national team in the final finally won the Copa America last year, against Brazil. He will treat himself and Argentina to a World Cup for Christmas.

France vs. Argentina, Sunday 10 a.m.