The surprise races culminate in the final of the pre-favorites. Argentina and the reigning world champion France came to the final partly with the same recipe, but there are also differences in how the teams play. In tournament play, the emphasis is on protecting one’s own goal and being able to win a penalty kick if necessary. France didn’t need a penalty shootout on the way to the final, while Argentina took down the Netherlands with points after dramatic stages.
France’s playing is not fireworks, but it is really clinical and effective. The team doesn’t press much, and doesn’t mind starting a counter-press, but when they get the ball, it’s mercilessly effective. When Kylian Mbappé as fire support, Antoine Griezmann has excelled, Ousmane Dembele and Oliver Giroud, so the effects have been guaranteed.
Throughout the tournament, the team has relied on its own way of playing, and it hasn’t really made any changes to its match plans based on the opponent. Neither team advanced to the finals with a clean game, as Tunisia managed to knock down France in the last round of the group stage.
Argentina’s machine got off to a slow start. In the first match, Saudi Arabia surprised Argentina sensationally. After this, the team has looked stronger match by match. Their playing has developed throughout the tournament the most of all the teams. The crown is Lionel Messi, who is playing possibly his best tournament.
With the same recipe for the final?
Argentina and France have been successful in their defense. The opponents’ few goal posts have been the key to success in these games as well. In the attached graphic, you can see the defensive actions of the final teams with different metrics compared to the average of the tournament.
Both teams have managed to keep the opponent’s goal expectation low. Neither team has pushed much from high, but France in particular has been content to be particularly passive and defend deep. Special situations are also of great value and, based on the data, both teams have succeeded well in defending them.
– The basis of success in tournament football is being able to keep a clean sheet as often as possible and keeping the opponent’s goal posts few. Argentina and France have both approached playing in such a way that the opponent is not allowed to get scoring opportunities through turnovers. Here, Argentina especially excelled by keeping the opponent’s counterattack shots at zero. However, France poses the biggest possible challenge here, Miika Nuutinen tells.
So how do the teams differ from each other?
The graphic tells us about Argentina’s and France’s attacking performances with a few metrics compared to the tournament average. It quickly reveals to us the biggest gameplay difference between the teams. France create a large number of their scoring chances from counter-attacks and crosses, while Argentina dominates the ball more and creates scoring chances from the mid lane.
France is the best team in the tournament to attack big spaces after their exploits. Opponents have tried to take away this weapon in the follow-up matches by guarding Mbappé in particular. The team builds its ball-playing on these counter-attacks and is the top end of the tournament in terms of finishing the counter-attacks with a shot.
Otherwise, France organizes its ball phase in such a way that on Mbappe’s side Fullback Henrandez creates superiority while trying to isolate Dembele’s side. After this, the focus changes to Dembele, who is in a big space alone and gets to rush the attacks. Even at this stage of the game, Griezmann’s importance has been particularly important for the team.
– The clip shows a traditional image of France playing. If necessary, we also start from deep along the same lane for a quick attack. The threat can also be generated from several lanes. The roles of the players fit this way perfectly. Mbappé and Dembele work as great passers on the wings and Giroud as a target player in the middle, while Griezmann gets to start the situations. The clip also captures France’s actions well when they lose the ball. The players’ pressing actions stop immediately and walk back to the block.
While France has not changed its own play much, Argentina has fine-tuned its game for each match in relation to the opponent. Head coach of the team against the Netherlands Lionel Scaloni grouped his team in a three-top line to respond to Holland’s special quality press.
Similarly, in the match against Croatia, the team built a diamond or box out of midfielders to create superiority against Croatia’s excellent midfield trio. In the first division matches, fullbacks have been seen in very different roles, filling spaces.
However, the unifying factor for Argentina’s play has been ball control and creating situations in the middle lane, more than, for example, the final opponent France. Of course, in the semi-final against Croatia, the team saw an extraordinary amount of counterattacks. The playing is built very strongly in relation to the opponent, so it will be interesting to see which choice Scaloni approaches the match against France.
– Argentina brings considerable superiority to the middle lanes in the ball phase and keeps one player in the wing areas to create a threat and stretch the field. The team emphatically wants to break the opponent’s block from the middle. Messi’s role in the ball phase in the role is emphasized – sometimes starting the game and sometimes ending it.”
Superstars – Messi vs Mbappé
The preparation time for the World Cup in Qatar was record short. This has been emphasized in the fact that the organization of the defense has been at a better level in relation to the organization of the attack. It is easier to destroy than to control. Argentina and France have such individuals who, with their own activities, bring enormous added value to the collective’s activities. Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé are able to significantly change the course of the game with their own actions.
Messi works more on the ball and affects every phase of the game in Argentina’s play, while Mbappé may be without the ball for long periods, but when he gets it, he can turn even an underpowered situation to his own advantage and to France’s strengths.
In general, overtaking by driving in races has decreased. Messi and Mbappe are exceptions here and are able to use this to bring a new addition to their teams’ play. Because of their big attacking threat, both superstars have freedom that other players on the teams don’t have. Neither of them really participates in the team’s off-ball phase. There has been enough talk about their walk in these games as well.
Of course, neither team will be able to prepare only to stop these individuals, when the field will be full of top players who also have decisive power. It will be interesting to see what the picture of the match turns out to be. France is not going to change its own way of playing – counterattacks are expected in the block. However, Argentina has shaped its own play for each match, which also brings its own interesting setup while waiting for the final.
However, what is certain is that we are on the threshold of a memorable final.
The World Cup final between Argentina and France will be played on Sunday from 17:00. Live broadcast on TV2, Areena and the app from 16:00.