Millions of people will be glued to their television screens on Sunday afternoon when Argentina take on France in the World Cup final.
Lionel Messi will be looking to go out on the ultimate high in his international career as he aims to inspire his country to victory, meanwhile Les Blues are going in search of consecutive triumphs in football's showpiece fixture.
Granted the honour of officiating this contest will be Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, ensuring Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver of the Premier League have missed out. Marciniak has made history in the process of his appointment, becoming the first person from his native country to take charge of a World Cup final.
READ MORE: 'Not the right coach' - Liverpool loanee left in limbo following managerial dismissal
The 41-year-old has overseen finals of the Polish Cup, Egypt Cup and UEFA Super Cup and is now preparing for the most significant game in his career. Involved in seven Liverpool matches as a referee, Marciniak has left Jurgen Klopp enraged on more than once occasion.
During the Reds' Champions League group stage loss to PSG in November 2018, six yellow cards were brandished for Klopp's side while the hosts received two cautions, one of which was a studs-up challenge from Marco Verratti on Joe Gomez that the Liverpool boss considered a sending off.
Further frustration followed on the stroke of half-time when Sadio Mane was brought down inside the penalty area by Angel Di Maria, which only resulted in a spot-kick following guidance given by the assistant referee.
Describing the performance of Marciniak after the match, Klopp fumed: "I think we won the fair play competition three times in a row in England and today we [were made to] look like butchers! We have six, seven, eight yellow cards and we were close to a red card. Yes, there were one or two holding things which were yellow cards, but all the others - it's unbelievable.
"We got a penalty - the ref didn't want to give it but I don't know how that's possible. The ref needs to be prepared for a game like this and he looked not prepared. But they scored two and we only [got] one so it's our fault."
Marciniak's next fixture as the man in the middle of a Liverpool match arrived in Atletico Madrid's Round of 16 home victory the following season, which saw Diego Simeone's side employ their streetwise tactics to grind out a result at the Wanda Metropolitano.
A number of decisions appeared to go against the Reds during the 90 minutes, notably Atletico's solitary goal within the game. Saul's goal arrived shortly after the home side were wrongly given a throw-in despite the ball taking the last touch off Alvaro Morata.
Only adding to the issue, Fabinho, James Milner and Mohamed Salah saw fouls awarded against them for challenges of minimal contact. Unhappy by what he had witnessed, Klopp was booked by the Polish referee during the second half of the match for shouting in his direction over the way the contest was being handled.
Addressing his touchline outburst during his post-match press conference, the Liverpool manager said: "I deserved it. I was just shouting in the direction, no bad words, I was not swearing. I was just unhappy with the overall performance and in that moment it finally came out and the ref didn’t like it too much. I can take that, I deserved the yellow card.
On the performance of the FIFA-listed referee, the German added: “It was difficult for the referee to deal with the atmosphere tonight. I don’t think the header was because of that, but a lot of other situations, after 30 minutes, three Atletico players were already on the ground without being injured. The ref just needs to feel that game a little bit more. The crowd wanted to help their team tonight. That makes it a very emotional game."
READ NEXT:
- Jurgen Klopp is ready to unleash Liverpool's best playmaker on the Premier League
- What happened 3,500 miles away from Anfield for some of Liverpool's biggest moments
- Steven Gerrard sends 'exciting' Liverpool message after Aston Villa sacking
Liverpool team meeting in Dubai has just confirmed Jurgen Klopp plan
European Super League promoters issue defiant response after 'big win' for UEFA
