France vs Argentina: Head to head, possible line-ups and more before FIFA World Cup final

France and Argentina will lock horns at world football’s greatest stage, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final on Sunday evening. The high-octane final at the Lusail Stadium will witness the Kylian Mbappe-starring France’s title defense, while Lionel Messi-led Argentina present their bid to win the prestigious World Cup gold for the third time in history. Interestingly, Mbappe and Messi head into the summit clash going head to head in the race to become the Golden Boot winner.

It is pertinent to mention that Argentina advanced into the final after beating 2018 runners-up Croatia by 3-0 in the semifinals. On the other hand, the defending champions defeated Morocco by 2-0 to earn their place in the summit clash. Both Mbappe and Messi have been key to their team’s campaign so far in the tournament and have found the back of the net a total of five times heading into the final.

FIFA World Cup 2022 final, Argentina vs France: Head-to-head 

This will be the 13th time in history that Argentina and France encounter each other on the football field. In the 12 games played so far, Argentina have a better win record with six victories. France, on the other hand, have won three games, while the other three games have ended in a draw. 

Argentina vs France head-to-head in FIFA World Cup

In the marquee football event, Argentina and France clashed for the first time in the group stage of the inaugural edition of the tournament in Uruguay in 1930. Argentina memorably won the match by 1-0, courtesy of Luis Monti’s 81st-minute goal that resulted in an exit for France. The next time they clashed was during the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.

Argentina again defeated the French side by 2-1 and knocked them out of the competition in 1978. The last World Cup clash between both sides came during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where Argentina suffered a 4-3 victory in the Round of 16 game. Here’s a look at the predicted starting line-ups for the much-hyped FIFA World Cup 2022 final on Sunday.

FIFA World Cup 2022 final possible starting lineups

Argentina predicted XI: Martinez; Montiel, Romero, Otamendi, Acuna; De Paul, Paredes, Fernandez, MacAllister; Messi, Alvarez

France predicted XI: Lloris; Kounde, Upamecano, Varane, Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud