Argentina and France will be facing each other at the Lusail stadium on Sunday for the biggest prize in football. Both have clearly been the best teams so far and the final looks set to be a blockbuster encounter.

Argentina

For Argentina, any lingering questions about Lionel Messi's commitment to the national team have been put to rest.

It's tough to avoid drawing connections between the 35-year-performance old's in Qatar and Diego Maradona's form in 1986, when the latter helped his club to victory.

He played one of his best games ever as Argentina defeated a gritty Croatian team.

Alejandro Gomez, who is still recovering from an ankle sprain and may barely make the bench, is the lone injury concern for La Albiceleste.

If Di Maria can prove his fitness in time, Leandro Paredes would unfortunately have to make way as Paulo Dybala and Lautaro Martinez try to increase their impact from the bench.

France

Hugo Lloris' gloves and Ibrahima Konate's remarkable blocks were occasionally required for Les Bleus, who faced a team that had not yet conceded to an opponent in the tournament. However, Theo Hernandez's acrobatic opening in the fifth minute shifted everything.

After coming on as a substitute, Randal Kolo Muani took just 44 seconds to double his team's advantage and put an end to Morocco's dream for another four years. As a result, they became the first defending champions to go to the championship game since Brazil in 1998.

Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot in the France team became the latest casualties of the constant air conditioning in Qatar, while Kingsley Coman was also feeling under the weather before to the semi-finals and is now apparently being joined in the sick room by Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate.

It is believed that Rabiot and Upamecano are feeling better and should apply for spots in the starting XI. In the midfield, the former may anticipate replacing Youssouf Fofana right away, but Deschamps has a bigger problem there.

Predictions

Argentina 2-1 France

Deschamps' illness-affected team have rarely found that ideal defensive formula in Qatar and may very well have lost to Morocco on another day, but their tendency for rapid-fire counter-attacks should come to the fore anyway.

In football, happy endings are never guaranteed, but fans worldwide may anticipate seeing Messi lift the 18-karat gold trophy in victory