World Cup final is Argentina v France, Messi v Mbappe and past v future

More than decade of Qatar’s multi-billion-pound investment in football will reach a crescendo on Sunday afternoon when two stars of Paris Saint-Germain, the club owned by the Gulf state’s investment arm, face off at the Lusail Stadium in the World Cup final.

But while it is seen as an ideal outcome for Qatar’s rulers, a contest between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Kylian Mbappe’s France is also something close to the perfect climax to the tournament for neutral football fans. 

The storylines around Messi, 35, and Mbappe, 23, are rich. While they are at very different stages of their career, both have already achieved greatness and are now attempting to cement a legacy among the very best to have ever played the game.

For Messi, the World Cup would complete his set of major honours in the game, having won every other notable club, international and individual title on offer. He doesn’t plan to play another World Cup, so this represents his last shot. 

Since adolescence he has been anointed the heir to Diego Maradona, who won the World Cup almost single-handedly – in a literal sense – in 1986. Messi’s club career has eclipsed that of the iconic Argentina No10 but the biggest prize of all has remained out of reach.

Mbappe, meanwhile, already has a World Cup winners’ medal from Russia 2018, when he was just 19. If France win on Sunday, the prodigious Parisian forward will become the youngest player to lift the trophy twice since a 21-year-old Pele with Brazil in 1962.

He is also the man most likely to inherit Messi’s mantle as the best footballer in the world – and is certainly the purists’ choice, even if Erling Haaland plays the Cristiano Ronaldo role and rivals him for sheer weight of goals.

But if this is a final in which two eras collide, the diminutive Argentinian with the uncanny ball control will hope to delay the changing of the guard for another 90 minutes at least.

Both have already lit up this World Cup and are their teams’ leading scorers with five goals apiece. Whoever outscores the other on Sunday is almost certain to leave Qatar with the Golden Boot, if nothing else.

While it is hard to deny that Messi bowing out in a blaze of glory would be the sentimental choice, there is an argument that a French triumph would be the more romantic conclusion to what has been a high-quality, attacking edition of the tournament. 

Argentina have delivered moments of magic – mostly Messi-inspired – but have on the whole given the impression of having had to work hard for their victories, Tuesday’s 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia excepted. 

For a team who have won eight of their last 10 games, they make it look difficult at times. After losing their opening match in Qatar to Saudi Arabia, every win has been greeted with a mixture of rapture and relief.

France, meanwhile, have largely coasted to the final without getting out of second gear. When they have needed to, the holders have stepped up and found a goal without ever appearing to overstretch themselves. 

England might have run them close in the quarter-finals, but Didier Deschamps’ side were never behind in the match and, as in the rest of the World Cup, managed the situation and took their chances when they came.

Statistics provided by analytics company Sporting Risk bear out that picture. While Argentina have averaged more possession per game (57 v 52) and shots on target (6.2 v 5.2), France have still averaged more goals per game (2 v 2.17) and expected goals (1.89 v 2). In other words, Les Bleus have done more with less.

But if France boast more cutting edge in attack then they also offer up far more chances in defence. Both sides have conceded the same number of goals, but Argentina have a far better expected goals conceded (0.41 v 1.25) and have allowed fewer shots on target (5 v 9.2) and key passes completed against (0.33 v 2) per game.

Messi and Mbappe have only met once before at international level, in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup, where the Frenchman scored twice in a 4-3 win. A repeat of that barnstorming tie really would be a treat for the neutrals.