Soccer / france vs argentina

It goes without saying that millions across the world are in favour of Argentina winning the ongoing FIFA World Cup. Of course, this can mostly be traced back to the massive support for Lionel Messi from all across the world. Messi has been terrific this world cup and has once again shown why he's regarded as one of the best ever in the game of football. In a recent interview held with him, it was revealed that the seven-time balloon do'or winner is primed to retire from international duties after this ongoing tournament if he wins it. However, with France being Argentina's opponents in the final, there's a huge doubt as to whether Messi can lead his country to their first World Cup trophy since 1986. France entered the tournament as a highly rated side but without the trust of fans as title contenders. The major reason for this being that the defending champions were without a good number of key players. Some notable names excluded from the squad were Paul Pogba, Ngolo Kante and this year's balloon do'or winner, Karim Benzema all due to injuries of different kinds. However, inspite of this huge setback, the Les Bleus managed to thrive and have made a huge mark as the first team to reach two straight finals since Brazil in 2002. Based on current statistics, France have better fire power in attack thanks to Olivier Giroud's heroics in filling the role of the injured Benzema. PSG star, Kylian Mbappe has been outstanding as well while Ousmane Dembele has constantly been a threat to opposition defence. Compared to this trio, Argentina's front two of Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez have been equally impressive with a commendable level of understanding and clinicality whenever in front of goal. Other France stars like Antonie Griezzman and Aurelien Tchouameni have perfectly played their roles and performed at high levels so far. In my opinion, these two provide an additional factor that puts France at a better position to pick up the trophy. France has an array of players with outstanding individual abilities which makes them a terror to any opponent while Argentina has Messi. Of course, he's a potent weapon but just might not be enough to rescue Argentina this time. Whatever the outcome of Sunday’s World Cup final, one thing is for sure: The title will go a long way in strengthening a star’s standing among the greatest to have ever played the game.