France coach Didier Deschamps has admitted it will be more difficult to contain Lionel Messi in Sunday's World Cup final than in their last meeting with Argentina in Russia four years ago.
Deschamps' France beat Argentina 4-3 in the last-16 in 2018 en route to being crowned world champions.
Messi played through the middle in Kazan but now operates in a free role for Lionel Scaloni's side, with Manchester City's Julian Alvarez up front.
"We have already met [Messi], do you remember?" Deschamps told French media before the match. "We will think about it. Inevitably, there are precautions to be taken to limit his influence.
“Four years ago, we expected him to be more on the right and he was playing centre forward. Now, he is a playmaker, he has more freedom, so it will be more difficult to mark him. Unless he is sick, we don't know! I don't wish that on him, of course."
Antoine Griezmann could be the unexpected key to containing Messi, with the Atletico Madrid forward excelling in a hard-running midfield role for Deschamps' France, prompting Paul Pogba to compare the out-of-position forward to N’Golo Kante.
"You know it's going to be complicated a final with Leo Messi, the stadium full of Argentines, but we have the team for it, the coach for it, you can believe in us, we'll be ready, be in good shape for this match," Griezmann said.
"It's going to be a very good match, the Argentines are tough, worked well, Leo played a great match in the half, we feel that he is good, calm in his head, serene, it will be up to us to prepare well for this match. Recovery today and tomorrow and doing everything to be 100 percent on Sunday."
Deschamps is expecting to welcome back Adrien Rabiot, who missed the semi-final win over Morocco through illness, and the midfielder will also be key at providing cover from Messi to France's full-backs, particularly left-back Theo Hernandez.
Dayot Upamecano is also expected to return to central defence for the game, which would leave Deschamps with the same XI which started the quarter-final win over England.
