France players celebrate with the trophy after beating Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, on July 15. 2018. REUTERS
At the end of 28 action-packed days, the stage is set for the final showdown of FIFA World Cup between Argentina and France at the magnificent Lusail Stadium.
Ahead of today’s finale of the 22nd edition of the tournament, history is about to get re-written with impressive numbers.
In the title clash, the entire world waits to see if Lionel Messi can stamp his status as "the greatest footballer ever", or if Kylian Mbappe can seal his second consecutive title to become a decorated young superstar of the new generation.
Both Messi and Mbappe are in line for the coveted Golden Boot trophy, awarded to the player with the most number of goals at World Cup, with both netting five each.
Since the number of assists also come into play if two or more players are tied in terms of goals scores, Messi currently has an edge over his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, with the Argentine having a 3-2 advantage.
If two or more players are still equal after taking into account the number of assists, the total minutes played in the tournament will be taken into account.
Messi has spent more time on the pitch (570 minutes) as of now, while Mbappe has played for 477 minutes.
Argentine Julian Alvarez and France's all time best goalscorer Olivier Giroud have found the back of the net four times each.
Argentina’s captain Diego Maradona brandishes the World Cup trophy after beating West Germany on June 29, 1986 at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City. AFP
This will be Argentina’s sixth appearance in the final, while it will be the fourth for France. Argentina have won twice, same as France, the reigning champions.
The World Cup has been held every four years since 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 due to the World War II.
Over its 92-year history, only 13 countries have made it to the finals, with eight being crowned champions.
Only European and South American teams have ever reached the finals. With eight appearances, Germany have the highest number of World Cup finals under their belt, followed by Brazil (seven times) and Italy (six times).
Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann who are playing in back-to-back finals, can join a league of only few extraordinary players who have scored in consecutive finals if they can find the net against Argentina today.
Vava (1958 and 1962), Pele (1958 and 1970), Paul Breitner (1974 and 1982) and Zinedine Zidane (1998 and 2006) are the only men to have scored in two World Cup finals.
Cafu is the only man to have played in three World Cup finals after making his appearance in the finals against Italy in 1994, France in 1998 and Germany in 2002.
Brazil great Pele won a record three World Cups but didn’t play in the 1962 final due to injury.
Argentina are seeking the biggest prize in football after 36 long years since their title win in 1986 under Maradona.
France won in 2018 after 20 years since their win in the 1990 final against Brazil, while Germany had to wait for 24 years from 1998 to 2014 to regain the world title.
Qatar 2022 saw all teams losing at least once, and the finalists Argentina and France were no exception.
Pyrotechnics around an inflatable trophy displayed on the pitch before the third-place play-off between Croatia and Morocco at Khalifa International Stadium yesterday. REUTERS
Messi-led Argentina were beaten by Saudi Arabia, ranked 51st in the world, in their opening match of the tournament, as the Arab nation pulled off one of the World Cup’s biggest shocks.
Meanwhile, France – despite being already qualified for the Round of 16, were shocked by already eliminated Tunisia in their final Droup D encounter.
Since its inception, it took 60 years for a team to keep a clean sheet in World Cup tournaments, until West Germany beat Argentina in the 1990 final.
Johan Neeskens’ goal (88 secs) for Netherlands in 1974 against West Germany remains the fastest goal in the history of the finals.
Apart from the glittering trophy, the champions in Qatar today will also bag the biggest amount of prize money ever in the history of the tournament, a whopping $42m.
The runners-up in Qatar will receive $30m.
Croatia, who won the third place after defeating Morocco 2-1 yesterday at the Khalifa International Stadium, received $27m while the fourth placed Atlas Lions took home $25m following their impressive run in Qatar.
The Netherlands, Brazil, England and Portugal will receive $17m each, while the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Senegal, Poland, Spain and Switzerland will get $13m each.
The 16 teams which did not make it past the Group stage will receive $9m each.
The $42m award is a $4m jump from what France received at the last edition of the World Cup.
It is part of a colossal $1bn total prize fund which is on offer at Qatar 2022 and interestingly, the $1bn mark is also a 29% increase from Russia 2018 where a total prize fund of $791m was on offer.
