France and Argentina both have at least two stars on their world cup at the start of the final. Argentina got theirs in 1978 and 1986, while France did in 1998 and 2018. Deschamps coached and captained his team to a WC victory.
Argentina have had a brighter start of the two teams, as Alexis MacAllister had a good strike on goal which was easy for Lloris to save. From a tatctial perspective, France build up with a back three, with Kounde, Varane and Upamecano, with Theo Hernandez wide on the left while Ousmane Dembele was wide on the right. Di Maria was on the left hand side, while Messi was right of centre.
The game was set. France will try to press the Argentinians, while the South Americans will try to play through the press. Argentina build with a back four, with the two full backs seeking to bomb up and down the pitch. There isn’t much inversion as we tend to see in club football which ave become a trademark in coaches like Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez and Ale MacAllister are in the midfield as the ’86 WC Champions are in a 4-3-3, which sometimes morphs into a 4-4-2 depending on the rotations of the players. Their aim is to bring players out and play into the space behind them. Also, the Argentines feed Angel Di Maria constantly, as he can take players one-on-one which led to a penalty after Dembele’s rash challenge in the twenty-first minute.
PENALTY! Symon Marciniak points to the spot.
Messi scores!!! 1-0 Argentina!
This was a goal which may live long in the memory of those in Buenos Aires. His 97th goal for Argentina may be his most important one.
France now has to commit men forward to get an equalizing goal. It’s been mainly Argentina and France have barely got out of first gear. After thirty-five minutes, France haven’t had a shot, talk less of on target. A counter by Argentina which was begun by Messi and MacAllister ends at Angel Di Maria who scored the second goal for Argentina in the thirty-sixth minute.
France were so flavourless that the former Monaco manager Deschamps prepared a double substitution with Giroud and Dembele coming off for Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani in the forty-first minute. This means that Mbappe is played through the middle which would mean the centre backs need to be wary of the ball in behind.
France, after the substitutions, in added time of the first half started to grow into the game. If they wanted to win the game, in my opinion, they needed to increase the tempo and get the ball quickly to Mbappe. In addition to that, the front three of Mbappe, Kolo Muani and Thuram should be closer together and rotate positions as they have been quiet and have caused the South Americans no problems in the first half.
Kounde has had a torrid time defending Di Maria as the Argentine creator has been instrumental in both goals, winning the penalty for the first and scoring the second.
As the second half began, France are a little better than they were in the first half. They had better tempo, and better intensity to try to cut their two goal deficit. Instead of building with a back three, Kounde, the right back is seen to be going up and down the right wing at times, which increases the number of French players attacking as they seek the elusive first goal. In the sixtieth minute, there was little to nothing of note for Emi Martinez to do.
Scaloni, who has been tactically sound in this final, decided to bring Di Maria off and bring a defender on in Acuna.Because of this France may have the upper hand as they can smell blood if the Argentinians sit deeper. France have been better since the hour mark, as they have had more possession of the ball, albeit with little to no attacking chances.
However, things changed in the seventy-ninth minute as Kolo Muani on the counter got the better of Otamendi, which caused the Benfica central defender to trip him and give away a penalty. And in the eightieth minute, Mbappe goes to Martinez’s right and gets one back for Les Bleus. The power got the better of Martinez, and it was game on to France. Do the nerves pile on for Argentina? After taking Di Maria off for a defender, one would think so.
And in the eighty-first minute, it was 2-2!
Mbappe to Thuram to Mbappe. France have gotten something out of nothing in this final.
Chants of Les Marseillais echo faintly after the second Mbappe goal.
This gave the French more hope as they sought to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
The ref awarded eight minutes of added regulation time. It was now anybody’s game.
In the ninety-fourth minute, France had the chance to steal the game. It was a chaotic end-to-end match now with Mbappe nearly assisting Kolo Muani in the sixth minute of added time. And Messi nearly had his own final say with less than two minutes to spare, with Lloris palming it away with a truly brilliant save.
Extra time began with Argentina starting well in a similar manner as they did at the start of regulation time. However, it was more even than the regular game, as both teams after scoring two goals had the belief that they could go on and get the third. Therefore, the match was more end-to-end than in the ninety minutes that preceded it.
In the hundred and fourth minute, Lautaro Martinez had a golden chance to score and was blocked by Upamecano. The resulting shot was then also cleared by Varane with a header. Martinez then had a chance again in the additional time of the first period of ET, and went wide of the goal. So first half of extra-time saw no changes in the scoreline.
After second half of extra time began, the next goal came in the hundred and eighth minute with Messi scoring from three yards out from a Hugo Lloris save. There was some bewilderment on whether the ref gave the goal or whether it was offside. VAR ensured that the goal was given as there was no offside in the buildup to the goal.
France now had to bring players forward to level the game. Argentina, being aware of this, bring on Herman Pezzella. And from the resulting corner, Montiel handles the ball and Marciniak awards the penalty to France.
Mbappe penalty again…
Same side! 3-3 France! Mbappe with a World Cup final hat-trick.
He was the first player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966 against the Germans.
Probably the moment that most people remember is the save of Martinez from Kolo Muani, but they don’t add the Lautaro Martinez header which went wide of the post. It was an enthralling one hundred and twenty minutes.
Extra Time over. Penalties loom.
Mbappe ✔
Messi ✔
Coman ✗ (saved by Martinez)
Dybala ✔
Tchouameni ✗ (wide)
Paredes ✔
Kolo Muani ✔
Match point for Argentina. It’s Gonzalo Montiel who steps up.
Montiel ✔
Full time! Argentina 3-3 France (4-2 on penalties)
A very close final in the end. In summary, Mbappe took the few chances which he had, while Messi and Di Maria were the shining lights in the Argentina side. Argentina dominated the game up until the seventy-ninth minute and with the two Mbappe goals, it became anyone’s game. The third goal for Argentina swung the match in their favour, but it was shortlived as Argentina gave away a penalty. Eleven penalties taken throughout, but those two missed have ended up costing Les Bleus back to back world cups.
Ore M. 
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