Argentina versus France, Lionel Messi against Kylian Mbappe is the World Cup Final many wanted, and none more enthusiastically than host Qatar.
The best player in the world against the second best, old master facing young prodigy, the tournament’s two top scorers, one aiming to finish a glittering career with the only prize in football which has so far evaded him, the other on the brink of winning a second World Cup aged 23.
And, most relevantly for the host nation, both employees of a Qatari state project at Paris Saint-Germain. Qatar desired this final above all, pitting the greatest assets of the country’s day-to-day sportswashing vehicle (with apologies to Neymar) against each other in the showpiece of their lavish global event.
Whatever happens on Sunday, Qatar will end the occasion by crowning one of its own poster boys as king and the country will forever be associated with one of football’s most compelling storylines. Messi’s involvement ensures the final is guaranteed to end in triumph or disaster.
Either the 35-year-old, who has said he is playing in his fifth and final World Cup, bows out by confirming his immortality and surely settling the debate over the greatest player in history, or he will lose a second final, making for an epic tragedy and a lifetime of what-ifs.
And Mbappe’s presence on the other side only increases the stakes. For France’s talisman to be part of the first side to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962 would elevate him to one of the game’s all-timers, while compounding Messi’s own sense of loss.
Given the highly problematic nature of this World Cup, it is significant Qatar is able to lay a claim to such compelling narratives and drama, demonstrating the effectiveness and insidiousness of sportswashing. In terms of pure sporting theatre, this World Cup stands as one of the best, risking overshadowing the unjustifiable cost of the finals in human and environment terms.
It has been tempting at times to wonder if Qatar has any regrets about hosting “the tournament of external noise”, as Gareth Southgate put it, given the sheer extent of negative publicly. But when attentions inevitably turn elsewhere, the legend of Sunday’s final will live on. A battle between the games two biggest stars and icons surely goes a long way to making their $220billion investment worthwhile.
Neither player will have forgotten their last meeting on this stage, France’s 4-3 win over Argentina in the last-16 four years ago, when Mbappe announced himself to the world with a brilliant double — the first teenager to score twice in a World Cup match since Pele.
Messi was first down the tunnel in Kazan that night, his dreams of winning a World Cup appearing in tatters. Revenge or redemption now awaits. Messi and Mbappe go into the game in a race for the Golden Boot and Golden Ball, with five goals apiece.
Morocco offered Argentina a compelling blueprint of how to manage Mbappe in last night’s semi-final defeat by France by refusing to manage him at all. Instead, Walid Regragui’s side pulled off a more effective version of England’s game-plan for the quarter-final by exploiting the space behind Mbappe, who was gloriously disinterested in helping his full-back, Theo Hernandez.
The excellent Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi outnumbered Hernandez, who opened the scoring in the fifth minute, time and again until Didier Deschamps introduced Marcus Thuram for Oliver Giroud and moved Mbappe to centre-forward.
A tight final is likely to be decided by a moment of inspiration, and the genius of Messi and Mbappe could be the difference
France are expected to welcome back midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who missed last night’s game through illness, on Sunday and the midfielder should provide Hernandez with more cover than his replacement, Youssouf Fofana. But Morocco have exposed a weakness that will offer Messi, who will drift to the right flank, encouragement.
Mbappe could not be overshadowed indefinitely, however, and he set up France’s second goal, his deflected shot falling into the path of substitute Randal Kolo Muani, who tapped home 44 seconds after his introduction to finally break Moroccan hearts after a remarkable performance from the first African side at this stage.
Like Argentina in their semi-final against Croatia, France ceded plenty of possession but never panicked. Given the nature of the two sides, a tight final is even more likely to be decided by a moment of inspiration, and the genius of Messi and Mbappe could be the difference between winning and losing. Qatar will feel they have already won.
