La Tercera or Encore le Tricolore
Argentina against France. Leo Messi against Kylian Mbappé. A footballing debt called in or a historic repeat. The World Cup final is locked in and is set to be a mouthwatering contest, not least if their clash from Russia 2018 is anything to go by.
One of these national team powerhouses will win the biggest prize in sport for a third time, and the subplots are everywhere you look.
For Argentina, who booked their place in impressive style by dispatching the Croatians 3-0, this represents the summit of a mountain of mammoth magnitude. After three final defeats in three consecutive years, Leo Messi – their talisman and the greatest since Diego Maradona – felt he had to retire from international football, such was the burden of pressure on his shoulders, and the intensity of the criticism he faced.
Thankfully, he reversed that decision, and the Argentina Football Association began to strive to improve the conditions to help Messi help them. After the 2018 World Cup, Lionel Scaloni was appointed and the climb got a little easier. La Albiceleste have lost just once in their last 42 matches, a run which included the glorious victory over Brazil at the Maracanã in the Copa América, Argentina’s first trophy since 1993.
The peak was in sight, and all eyes have been laser-focused on Qatar. It hasn’t always been easy, or pretty, but Argentina now have momentum. And they have Messi. In the eternal, often agonising, comparison, many have said this is the most Maradoniano Messi has ever looked.
In this tournament, he played his landmark 1000th professional game, became Argentina’s leading World Cup goalscorer, and in the final he will become the player who has played more matches than any other player in tournament history. Jorge Valdano said Messi is liberated. Marcelo Mora y Araujo proclaimed that he is now comfortable with his position in this team. It certainly looks that way. The end of the climb is in sight, and it could yet be an illustrious peak.
Standing in their way are the World champions, looking to become the first nation to retain the Word Cup since Brazil in 1962. France overcame Morocco on Wednesday night to book their place in the showpiece and will probably be the bookmakers’ favourites.
In this supremely talented French machine, Kylian Mbappé may be the star name and Olivier Giroud may be writing himself onto scoresheets and into history. But it is Antoine Griezmann who is the conductor, the catalyst for this team. He was everywhere in the semi-final, from creating the opening for the first goal, to working in typically tireless fashion to win the ball back, once in the right-back position. Griezmann is humble, diligent and the ultimate team player.
Didier Deschamps must be given immense credit for evolving his system to incorporate Griezmann in this deeper position, but the relentless tenacity is nothing new. It is ironic that the coach who instilled such work ethic into Griezmann was Diego Simeone. Now, Cholo's home nation may be undone by Griezmann’s brilliance.
Of the 15 LaLiga players available for the final, four of them play for Simeone’s Atleti. Griezmann will take on team-mates Rodrigo De Paul, Nahuel Molina and Ángel Correa. Beyond that there are reunions everywhere, from Barcelona to Paris. The countdown starts now.