LUSAIL, Qatar — Argentina and France square off in the World Cup Final, each in search of their third world championship (10 a.m. ET, FOX/Telemundo).
Lionel Messi will have his final chance to add the title that has eluded him, while Kylian Mbappe has the chance to join Pele as the only players to win two World Cups by the age of 23. For France, a win would mean a second consecutive World Cup title, which would make Les Bleus the first team to win back-to-back titles since Brazil in 1962.
Here is the squad France will start in today’s final, including Mbappe and tournament standout Antoine Griezmann:
SBI’s editorial team will be providing live commentary on today’s final in the comments section below. You are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions as well.
Enjoy the action.
Argentina wins! Gonzalo Montiel scores the decisive penalty kick and Lionel Messi finally captures a World Cup title. 3-3 through 120 minutes and Argentina scores all four of their kicks from the spot. What an amazing ending to a great tournament.
Credit to France for never giving up, but it’s Argentina’s day to shine.
Kolo Muani blasts it down the middle to give France hope, but Argentina can win with this kick. Gonzalo Montiel steps up.
Tchouameni misses! Argentina up 2-1 still
Lionel Messi ties it up after sliding a shot into the corner. 1-1.
That’s the second time Emi Martinez has gotten a piece of Kylian Mbappe’s shot from the spot, but it also sneaks in. 1-0 France.
And we’re headed to penalties. 3-3 it finishes through 120 minutes. Kylian Mbappe with a hat trick, Lionel Messi with two goals. Emi Martinez and Hugo Lloris standing up with some big saves.
Kylian Mbappe becomes the first men’s player since Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat trick in a World Cup Final. Steps up and sends Emi Martinez the opposite way from the spot. 3-3 and looks like we are nearing penalties.
incredible
would be cool to see CP’s support for MLS style shootouts here instead of PKs imo
GOAL ARGENTINA!
Had to be Messi.
Lautaro Martinez hit a hard blast at Loris, who saved it, but the rebound fell to Messi, who made no mistake.
3-2 Argentina, 109th minute.
3-2 Argentina! Leo Messi scores his second of the match to propel Argentina in front in the second extra time period. France is arguing offsides, but it goes in Argentina’s favor.
We are in extra time, with the teams tied 2-2.
Argentina only made one substitution in regulation, but now they have some to work with.
The first is replacing Nahuel Molina at right back after he got cooked by Mbappe. Gonzalo Montiel has replaced him.
Adrien Rabiot has been replaced by Youssouf Fofana after a suspected concussion.
98th minute- 2-2 in Lusail.
72nd minute- Still 2-0 Argentina.
France is throwing the kitchen sink at Argentina, inserting Camavinga for Theo Hernandez and switching to three in the back. The extra numbers aren’t paying dividends just yet as Argentina is still playing with the hunger of a team that won’t be denied.
80th minute- GOAL France
Mbappe converts the penalty kick drawn when Kolo Muani was fouled by Otamendi in the penalty are.
81st minute- GOAL FRANCE!!
Mbappe scores AGAIN, lashing a right-footed blast after receiving a pass from Rabiot. Messi was stripped in midfield by Coman and it led directly to the equalizer.
It’s 2-2, and anybody’s game now, though France has the momentum.
HALFTIME – Argentina 2, France 0.
Deschamp subbed out Dembele and Giroud before halftime. Dembele made sense because he was terrible. You have to wonder how much illness is impacting this French team.
Argentina on the other hand, was outstanding. Dominated the first half and are 45 minutes away from glory.
looks like it him them pretty bad imo
Great goal Di Maria for the second.
Argentina put on a counter-attacking clinic to make it 2-0.
They forced the turnover, DePaul finds Messi, who springs Alvarez on the wing, and Alvarez picks out a speedy run from midfield by McAllister, who eventually slides a pass to DiMaria, who makes no mistake.
France was sleepwalking through the half and paid the price. That second goal felt like it was coming for a while.
i get lectured by the fans of boring short pass soccer that counter soccer is a dinosaur but to me that second goal is art, win the ball, handful of one touch passes up the field, in the net, plenty of skill, not a tentative thing about it.
those who argue it’s a dinosaur simply revealing what they do not understand IV, like when Bradley was ‘accused’ of it, and what happened after that…….
Argentina dominating possession and France look a bit shell-shocked.
Still 1-0, 33rd minute.
GOAL ARGENTINA! Messi converts the penalty kick drawn by Angel DiMaria.
Ousmane Dembele fouled DiMaria in the area and Messi makes it count. Silly challenge from Dembele. Conspiracy theories will complain, but he clearly tripped DiMaria.
1-0 Argentina, 24th minute.
Argentina on the front foot through the first 15+ minutes. France a bit sluggish and the Argentina attack is asking questions.
0-0, 16th minute.
As you might expect, Lionel Messi received the loudest applause in warm-ups, but Kylian Mbappe’s reception was pretty close.
The Argentina support has been incredible throughout the tournament and they’ll have the home-field edge today by a wide margin. Not only are there thousands of Argentinians in Qatar, the locals have adopted Argentina as their team in far greater numbers than France.
Angel DiMaria going right back into the starting lineup. for Argentina is a gutsy move by Lionel Scaloni considering DiMaria had missed most of the past two matches with an injured foot, but DiMaria is too good a big-game player to leave out of this occasion. Some players step it up when the lights shine brightest and DiMaria is one of those players.
Good morning everybody and greetings from Lusail, Qatar, where Argentina and France square off in the World Cup Final. I’m Ives Galarcep and I’ll be providing updates throughout the day. Please feel free to send along World Cup final questions as we prepare for kickoff from Lusail Stadium.