IT WILL be Argentina vs France in the World Cup final!Which of course means the battle of Lionel Messi vs Kylian Mbappe in the HUGE showpiece final on Sunday afternoon.
France reached the final after defeating Morocco 2-0 in their crunch semi-final.
Elsewhere, Thomas Tuchel is in the frame for the England job after the Three Lions came crashing out of the World Cup in Qatar.
Gareth Southgate is set to consider his future, with two years left remaining on his contract.
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You beauty
Rodrigo de Paul hailed Lionel Messi as “The Beast” for inspiring Argentina to the World Cup final.
Yet again, Messi delivered when his team needed it, scoring the first goal from the spot, playing his part in the second and brilliantly creating the third in the 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia.
Atletico Madrid midfielder De Paul said: “Luckily, we have The Beast.
“We play for our country, but for us Leo is our captain, our leader, he’s like an older brother, I will always defend him.
“Few know what he does to always be the best and I’m very happy for him.
“After everything that’s happened, I want him to be the one who enjoys it the most. He deserves it a lot.”
Superstar head-to-head
Messi has openly admitted the final will be his last ever World Cup game.
But while there is a 12-year age gap between Messi, 35, and Mbappe, 23, there has been little to separate them at this World Cup.
Or over the last two World Cups for that matter.
Mbappe’s stats don’t go back any further than that, while the current tournament in Qatar is Messi’s FIFTH time on football’s greatest stage.
Although, despite playing 12 less games at the World Cup, Mbappe has only scored TWO fewer goals than Messi.
France set up classic encounter
Before this tournament started, had you offered anyone an Argentina against France final, plenty would have taken your arm off.
In Lionel Messi, you have arguably the best player the world has ever seen, with his final chance to win the trophy he has always craved.
But for Les Bleus, in Kylian Mbappe, they have the future of football who will do all he can to prevent that from happening.
Ronaldo slammed by Hamann
Cristiano Ronaldo was astonishingly attacked by Dietmar Hamann, who praised Morocco’s “dignity in defeat”.
Liverpool legend Hamann hailed Morocco for how they handled defeat while aiming a dig at Ronaldo.
He said on RTE: “You talk about these superstars, top earners, top players, and one of the greatest players, who left the scene about a week ago, in Ronaldo.
“He couldn’t even congratulate them, after the game.
“Morocco won that game, they did something historic, and he didn’t even have the dignity to congratulate them for what they had achieved.
“And now you watch them, and how they shake hands with the French, and the dignity and graciousness they show in defeat. Brilliant.”
Morocco became the first African side to reach a World Cup semi-final but lost 2-0 to France, who face Argentina in the final.
French fans celebrate into the night
‘Allez Les Bleus’ rings out from the stands and the surrounding fan-parks.
They are one step away from achieving the dream they set out to accomplish when heading out to Qatar.
When the news of Karim Benzema’s injury hit the camp prior to their first game, even the most ardent fan could be forgiven for doubting their chances of success.
Only Argentina stand in their way now.
United ask after Ramos
Man Utd are set to enquire about Portugal ace Goncalo Ramos’ availability after the 2022 World Cup, reports suggest.
Ramos has stood out this season with 14 goals and six assists in 21 appearances with Benfica and also registered a hat-trick for Portugal in their Last 16 clash against Switzerland.
According to ESPN, United will look to make a swoop for the striker in the January transfer window but a deal is in no way certain.
Manager Erik ten Hag is looking for a new centre-forward after Cristiano Ronaldo’s dramatic exit.
Ronaldo was axed with immediate effect after his bombshell interview in which he slammed the club from top to bottom.
Ramos is seen as a suitable successor, and he proved it as he replaced the five-time Ballon d’Or winner against Switzerland and led Portugal to the World Cup quarter-finals after a 6-1 triumph.
Another mighty effort from Morocco
The Atlas Lions can hold their heads high, Les Bleus know they have been in a game today.
Had they managed to just convert one of their chances, this could have been a completely different game.
The stats show just how evenly matched these two teams were.
Full time: France 2-0 Morocco
France are the first team to reach back-to-back World Cup finals since Brazil some 20 years ago.
They are also the first European team to do this for 84 years.
Morocco have finally run out of steam and head home from Qatar.
GOAL: France 2-0 Morocco
That will make for a more comfortable climax to this game for Les Bleus.
They were on the ropes so many times as Morocco sprayed them with punch after punch.
But Kolo Muani’s first goal for his country has settled this game.
France 1-0 Morocco: Inside the ground
Martin Lipton reports from Qatar:
The effort has been immense, on and off the pitch.
But you do sense that Morocco are starting to run out of legs.
France have not taken advantage yet but the gaps are getting bigger.
Not that the drummers at either end are going to accept that.
Inside the ground – Giroud chance
SunSport’s Martin Lipton reports from Al Khor:
How did Giroud miss that?
Absolute sitter, scooped wide from 12 yards with the keeper and his defence spread-eagled.
All came because Mbappe, unsurprisingly, is too quick for the re-shaped Morocco back line.
There is a desperation about their defending now. Pretty ugly stuff.
Though not as ugly as that Giroud shocker – as he showed by trying to hide his face under his shirt.
Game updates
It’s an early lead for the French in Al Khor.
Follow along with SunSport’s live blog here.
Credit: Alamy
France 1-0 Morocco
Goal… it’s Theo Hernandez for France.
Griezmann does brilliantly down the right.
He finds Mbappe in the box who tries twice to get a shot away, the second being blocked with the ball breaking to Hernandez.
He gets over the ball and volleys into the net.
More to France than Mbappe
Morocco will find this evening, as England did, that there is a lot more to Deschamps’ side than their talisman forward.
Throughout the tournament, their team have stepped up when needed.
Griezmann in particular has been key to their success so far.
Inside the ground – pre match analysis
SunSport’s Dan King reports from Qatar:
Just under an hour to go until kick-off, but the volume of the whistling from the Morocco fans already in their seats is impressive when any reference is made to France.
Speaking of the French, they make one change from the starting 11 against England.
As SunSport predicted, Adrien Rabiot is not well enough to take the field and so Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana comes in alongside Aurelian Tchouameni.
There’s good news for Morocco, though (and David Moyes). West Ham defender Nayef Agerd is fit to play, and so is left back Noussair Mazraoui. People who know about these things are predicting a back five for the North Africans.
They were never going to make it easy for the French, who will need all their guile and patience to find a way through the best defence of the tournament.
The consensus seems to be that this will be a game too far for the Moroccans. Whatever happens they’ve broken new ground and they and their fans have lit up the tournament.
But wouldn’t it be great if they could add France to their impressive list of victims? Stranger things have happened.
Morocco starting XI
Walid Regragui makes several changes for this evening’s game including a change of formation as they switch to 5-4-1.
1. Bono, 2. Hakimi, 18. El Yamiq, 5. Aguerd, 6. Saiss, 3. Mazraoui, 7. Ziyech, 8. Ounahi, 4. S Amrabat, 17. Boufal, 19. En-Nesyri
France starting XI
Didier Deschamps is without Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot who missed training yesterday due to both players suffering from a virus.
1. Lloris, 5. Kounde, 4. Varane, 24. Konate, 22. Hernandez, 8. Tchouaméni, 13. Fofana, 11. Dembele, 7. Griezmann, 10. Mbappe, 9. Giroud
Magical Messi awaits
Remember, it is Lionel Messi’s Argentina who are up for the winner in the big final.
The final will kick off on Sunday at 3pm UK time.
We can’t wait!
Morocco flights cancelled
Thousands of Morocco fans have been left utterly devastated after Qatar banned flights from the country at the last minute.
After Morocco qualified for the semi-final, 30 special flights for Tuesday and Wednesday between Casablanca and Doha were organised.
But now they have been left at home.
Royal Air Maroc said in a statement: “Following the latest restrictions imposed by the Qatari authorities, Royal Air Maroc regrets to inform clients of the cancellation of their flights operated by Qatar Airways.”
Can France rewrite history?
Only two countries have retained the World Cup since the tournament first began in 1930.
Italy retained the trophy way back in 1938 and Brazil did the same in 1962.
So no country has reclaimed their prize in over 60 years which is incredible.
France will be itching to break that long spell but they have to get past a stubborn Moroccan side first.
Head-to-head
France boss the head-to-head record 7-3 with one draw.
That solo Morocco victory came in their first meeting way back in April 1963.
The 2-2 draw in November 2007 ended a run of five straight French victories – Samir Nasri was on the scoresheet in Paris as Marouane Chamakh led the line for the away side.
France vs Morocco preview
France look to reach their second consecutive World Cup final as they face underdogs Morocco in the semis TONIGHT.
Les Bleus overcame England 2-1 in the quarter-finals, while the African side beat Portugal in a tense affair.
And now Kylian Mbappe and Co come up against a Moroccan side which features his PSG team-mate Achraf Hakimi and Chelsea star Hakim Ziyech.
More on exclusive vote
The next most popular choice behind Tuchel was Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who would be perfect for the job according to SunSport columnist Jack Wilshere.
Other less popular English options include Frank Lampard, who won 106 caps for England but had just eight per cent share of the vote.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter was even less popular with 7.7 per cent.
Mauricio Pochettino, who has been linked with a host of jobs over the last year, came in third.
Fans vote for next gaffer
England fans have revealed who they want to succeed Gareth Southgate if he steps down as manager in an exclusive SunSport poll.
The Three Lions boss is considering quitting after six years in the job.
The FA want Southgate to remain in charge for the next major tournament, Euro 2024, but he is weighing up his options.
Former Chelsea and PSG boss Thomas Tuchel is one of the favourites to take over with the FA open to appointing a foreign boss.
The German is keen to take over and would likely have the backing of fans, according to a recent SunSport poll.
Last night’s stat attack
Ahead of this evening’s second World Cup semi-final, here’s a look back at the stats from last night.
Argentina eased past 2018 finalists Croatia 3-0, but the stats suggest it was a more even game than it seemed.
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