This is it. On Sunday, France will be looking to win its third World Cup title and second in a row. Since 1930, only two teams have been able to win back-to-back titles in soccer’s grandest stage, Brazil being the last in 1958 and 1962.
Les Bleus come in as the slight betting online underdogs at +180 but they aren’t afraid of Argentina. In fact, they also met in the 2018 edition and Les Bleus won 4-3.
Let’s check the latest World Cup picks, stats, injury reports, and World Cup predicitions. We’ve plenty of World Cup expert picks for you to consider.
Road to the Final
France’s road to the final began with a bang. Les Blues crushed Australia 4-1 in their opener with veteran Olivier Giroud as Man of the Match after scoring a brace. Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe also scored. Four days later, the reigning champs defeated Denmark 2-1 with two goals scored by Mbappe.
That result was enough for them to secure a spot in the Round of 16. That’s why they didn’t take the match against Tunisia seriously, which they lost 1-0. Even so, Les Bleus finished atop Group D.
In the knockout stages, France defeated Poland, England and Morocco. Les Bleus scored 2.3 goals per game and managed to get their first clean sheet in the tournament by defeating Morocco 2-0 in the semifinals. Prior to losing to France, the Atlas Lions conceded only one goal in five matches, meaning France’s attacking unit is really good. In fact, no other team has scored more goals than Les Bleus with 13.
Scoop on Free Play from the Locker Room
Previous Finals
Sunday’s match will be France’s fourth World Cup Final. The first was in 1998, in which Les Bleus defeated Brazil 3-0 with Zinedine Zidane as Man of the Match after scoring a brace. Eight years later, Zidane and company returned to the Grand Finale but lost to Italy on penalties. The game finished 1-1. Most recently, they defeated Croatia 4-2 in the Final of the 2018 edition.
Including the Qatar 2022 Grand Finale, only Argentina, Italy, Brazil, and Germany have played more World Cup championship games than France.
Why France Will Win: Mbappe Golden
Mbappe is the main reason why France will win. Can you imagine having two World Cup titles at 23? Well, that’s what Mbappe could accomplish on Sunday. That’s crazy considering some legends couldn’t even win one.
Mbappe has scored five goals, the same as Lionel Messi, enough for the two of them to sit atop the tournament’s scoring chart. At the time of writing, Messi was the soccer betting favorite to win the Golden Boot at -110 while Mbappe is offering a +105 price. The thing is that Mbappe is eager to prove he already is the best in the world. In other words, he wants to prove that the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is officially over.
Depth
Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, Christopher Nkunku, Presnel Kimpembe, and Lucas Hernandez. Believe it or not, all those French players missed the 2022 World Cup due to injury. Even so, France managed to reach the Grand Finale! That’s crazy.
As if that wasn’t enough, the following players didn’t play against Morocco in the semifinals: Benjamin Pavard, Matteo Guendouzi, Jordan Veretout, and Eduardo Camavinga. Summing up, Les Bleus have the talent to spare!
Experience
Finally, head coach Didier Deschamps is more experienced than Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni. Deschamps began his coaching career in 2001 while Scaloni did it in 2018. Deschamps has won the Ligue 1 title with Marseille, the Italian Serie B title with Juventus and reached the UEFA Champions League with AS Monaco. Besides winning the 2018 World Cup, he also led France to win the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League and to finish as the runners-up in the 2016 Euro Championship.
As if that wasn’t enough, he won it all as a player, including the 1998 World Cup, the Italian Serie A, and the UCL. In other words, there’s no comparison.
