In soccer, as in the rest of the life, it can be bad to openly want something too much.
The French are world champions, not just of men's soccer, but of discretion. When fans take to the Champs-Elysées in Paris to celebrate a win, you know it's not just any win, it's a big one.
Argentina fans, however, have no reservations.
At every turn of this World Cup, the Albiceleste faithful have showed up in droves to roar on their team. They do for every game the country plays, but this time it feels even bigger: the distance from Argentina to Qatar, it being Lionel Messi's last World Cup, the emotional liberation of having won the last Copa América.
"I can't even imagine, as a player, to have that behind you," said Fox Sports' John Strong, who has called four of Argentina's six games in Qatar so far. "That has been one of, I think, the things I'll remember most from this World Cup."
On Sunday, Strong will call Argentina's seventh game of this tournament: the final. It's Argentina's second title game appearance in the last three men's World Cups, and it has the potential to be an all-time matchup.
Messi, the greatest player of his generation, leads Argentina against a France team seeking to become the third back-to-back champion in men's World Cup history — and the first since Pelé's Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
It's also a matchup of club teammates. Five European club teams have a player on each finalist: England's Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, France's Paris Saint-Germain, Italy's Juventus, and Spain's Atlético Madrid.
The biggest set comes from PSG: Messi and France's Kylian Mbappé. They're two of the many superstars who've turned the French capital's biggest team into a global power.
The money behind PSG's rise has come from Qatar's state investment fund, which bought the club 11 years ago — soon after winning the hosting rights to this World Cup. Now Messi and Mbappé will duel for soccer's biggest crown on Qatari soil.
It's a reminder of all that has underpinned this tournament off the field. But not even Qatar's billions could buy the twists of fate on the path to this game.
Argentina had to win five straight games after losing its group stage opener to Saudi Arabia. In its next game, Mexico held the line defensively for 64 minutes until Lionel Messi finally exploded it.
In the knockout rounds, Australia repeatedly threatened an equalizer. The Netherlands achieved it, and in the 128th minute to boot. That game required to the biggest mental test of all: a penalty kick shootout. But Messi scored his ice-cold, and Lautaro Martínez capped it off. In the semis, Argentina was liberated, with Messi and young phenom Julián Álvarez dazzling the world.
France suffered a pile of injuries leading up to the tournament: N'Golo Kanté, Paul Pogba, Presnel Kimpembe, and Christopher Nkunku. On the day before the opener. Karim Benzema tore a thigh muscle in practice.
Australia's Craig Goodwin scored on the champs nine minutes into their opener; England had a penalty kick to tie their quarterfinal that Harry Kane missed. Morocco's Jawad El Yamiq put a bicycle kick off the post in the semis just before halftime, with France leading, 1-0.
But so many champions have the best psychology, not just the best talent. France has melded the veteran guile of Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud to the youthful brilliance of Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni.
Randal Kolo Muani, a 24-year-old who scored the semifinal clincher against Croatia, was Nkunku's injury replacement. It was just his fourth cap, all earned since late September, and his second start. The first was the group stage finale. That extraordinary depth is why France is the favorite, even if Les Bleus too often have played at half-speed. They know when to turn it up, and when they do, no one has stopped them.
Now they face Messi. But it's not just him, or even him and Álvarez. Argentina has plenty of depth too, especially in elite midfielders Enzo Fernández, Nahuel Molina, and Rodrigo De Paul.
And there are those fans, raising every roof they can find, right up to the one over the 90,000-seat Lusail Stadium that will host Sunday's game.
"Friends, we're hopeful again," they sing, having waited since 1986 for a third World Cup title. "I want to win the third one, to be world champions again. Diego [Maradona], we can see him in heaven — with Don Diego [his father] and La Tota [his mother], cheering for Lionel."
They are cheering for Messi down on Earth, too, and not just in Argentina. Now to see if he can finally win soccer's biggest prize.
How to watch and stream Argentina vs. France
— Time: 10 a.m. Eastern
— Venue: Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar
— Betting odds: Argentina -110, France -106.
In English: Fox and FoxSports.com (John Strong on play-by-play with analyst Stuart Holden, reporter Jenny Taft and referee expert Joe Machnik).
Pregame coverage starts at 9 a.m. We'll see what happens with postgame coverage. Fox's NFL pregame is scheduled to start at noon, with World Cup studio coverage moving to FS1. But if there's a lot of stoppage time, extra time, or penalty kicks — or just if the trophy presentation takes a while — it's unclear what Fox will do.
The late studio show is on FS1 at 8:30 p.m. and Fox at midnight.
In Spanish: Telemundo, TelemundoDeportes.com and Peacock (Andrés Cantor on play-by-play with analyst Manuel Sol).
Pregame coverage starts at 7 a.m., and postgame coverage ends at 2 p.m. After that, the network will air a replay of the game. There's a late show looking back at the tournament as a whole at 11:30 p.m. FoxSports.com and TelemundoDeportes.com require authentication through participating pay-TV providers. Peacock is NBC and Telemundo's subscription streaming service.
Fox also has replays of every game for free on its streaming platform, Tubi.
Other players to watch
— Argentina: Emiliano Martínez. The charismatic goalkeeper might win the World Cup's Golden Glove award, given to the top netminder, whether or not Argentina wins this game.
— France: Raphaël Varane. The stalwart centerback is one of four players who've been hit by a virus in the team camp in recent days. Fellow centerback Dayot Upamecano and midfielders Adrien Rabiot and Kingsley Coman missed the semifinal win over Morocco because they were sick. Reserve centerback Ibrahima Konaté also has been under the weather. Upamecano and Rabiot returned to practice on Friday.
