France and England go goal-crazy with the handbrake off
“England does not want to play this game and neither do we,” said France boss Didier Deschamps ahead of the dreaded third place play-off. After all, no remembers who came third at the World Cup, do they?
Well, they might on this occasion, after England came out on the right side of an extraordinary ten goal thriller in Miami – the joint third highest-scoring World Cup match of all time – to record their best finish since lifting the trophy in 1966.
Four-nil up at half-time, Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions found themselves pegged back to 4-3 midway through the second half – but Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick, the first for England in a World Cup knockout match since Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final, ensured they avoided outdoing their own semi-final collapse against Argentina.
Kylian Mbappé’s brace edged him ahead of Lionel Messi as the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer, so maybe the France captain is glad they did play this game – though perhaps more than anything, it was an insight into what can happen when released from the pressure of football’s highest stakes.
England take Bronze
Mbappé in pole position as Messi aims to reclaim supremacy
Barring a Messi hat-trick in the final, the Golden Boot will go to Mbappé – who’s poised to become the first player ever to win the award more than once, having claimed it last time around.
He’s also the first player to hit double figures in a single edition of the World Cup since German great Gerd Müller in 1970, moving two clear of Messi at this summer’s finals to 10 goals.
The Golden Boot is one of the few individual accolades Messi has yet to claim, but the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner still has a sniff of becoming the third Argentine to top the goals charts at a single edition of the tournament – after Guillermo Stábile in 1930 and Mario Kempes in 1978.
He’ll also want to wrestle back that World Cup goalscoring record in what looks likely to be his record-extending 34th and final game in the competition.
Who will FIFA award the Golden Ball to?
This. Is. It. Spain and Argentina go for glory in New York in the 23rd World Cup final.
And for the first time in World Cup history, the final pits the reigning European champions against the reigning world (and South American) champions – who are trying to become the first side to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962.
Are you ready?
Stage set for showdown that could go the distance
Ranked second and first respectively, Luis de la Fuente’s Spain and Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina are, per the pre-tournament FIFA World Ranking, the best two national teams in the world. On paper, it’s a fitting final match-up.
And there’s plenty to suggest that will translate to a memorable encounter at the New York New Jersey Stadium, hosting the biggest event in its 16-year history – after staging Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.
While both sides love to control possession – Spain average 63.8% at this World Cup, Argentina 60.7% - La Roja’s defensive meanness, as they demonstrated to stunning effect in restricting France to just 0.31 expected goals (xG) in 2-0 their semi-final victory, might mean we’re in for a lower-scoring affair than each of the last two finals – which have both produced six goals.
That being said, Argentina’s remarkable tendency to manifest goals when they most need them should ensure we avoid the first goalless final since the turgid stalemate between Brazil and Italy at the last American World Cup in 1994.
Having stunningly been held to a goalless draw by Cape Verde in their opening game, Spain have found the net twice or more in four of their six matches since – putting four goals past Saudi Arabia and three past Austria.
Argentina average 2.7 goals per game – the most of any team who went beyond the Round of 32 – and have struck 11 times in the knockout stage alone. Nine of those goals have come in the 79th minute or later, including two in stoppage time at the end of normal time and four in extra time.
Four of the last five World Cup finals have gone to extra time, with two of those involving Argentina and one Spain. A sign of things to come?
History within reach for La Roja
Spain are looking to emulate their own achievement of 2010 – when they became just the second country, after West Germany in 1974, to win the World Cup as reigning European champions.
Should La Roja triumph on Sunday night, they’ll leave England as the only one-time World Cup winners.
Heading into the biggest match of their lives having kept a World Cup-record six clean sheets already, Spain will make some kind of history with victory – for which they’re slight favourites in the bookies’ eyes.
Messi’s final act?
Poised to win a record-extending third Golden Ball, Messi is about to join Cafu as only the second player to feature in three World Cup finals. And this will be the GOAT’s last – won’t it…?
Given he’ll be 43 when the next World Cup rolls around, we’re going to assume yes (though the fact one of the opening three matches of that tournament will take place in Argentina leaves a shred of uncertainty there).
Messi is our best rated player at the tournament
Just 21 players have won the World Cup more than once (and only one of them, Pelé, has lifted the trophy three times).
So, naturally, Messi will have sights firmly set on a spot in that exclusive club, whose sole current Argentine member is 1978-winning skipper Daniel Passarella (who was also part of the victorious Argentina squad eight years later).
