Argentina vs France FIFA World Cup highlights: Messi gets his hands on the coveted trophy, ARG are world champions

Seven more minutes for France to somehow hold on. This has been a half to forget for them and they are still unable to get a grip on possession. 

41 mins: This could turn out to be a stroke of genius in the second half, you never know. For now, it is nothing more than an indication of just how wrong Deschamps and co. have been today with their tactics. Dembele and Giroud are out, Thuram and Kolo Muani are in.

Messi receives the ball after it is cleared and immediately plays it to Alvarez who releases Mac Allister down the wing. France are non-existent in midfield as the Brighton man steams forward then passes it to Di Maria on the left and the veteran hits it first time into the back of the net. He is in tears after he is done celebrating that one. Argentina running away with this.

35 mins: A wonderful counter-attack from Argentina just as France tried to create something and Di Maria makes it two for the Albiceleste. Is this final decided already?

31 mins: 31 mins: Messi leaves Griezmann to bit the dust with one of his death pirouets and tries to release Di Maria down the left. The danger is quelled because that pass was a bit overcooked but Argentina remain in the French third. 

23 mins: As calm as it gets from the little genius. Messi strolls up to the ball, give Lloris the eye. The French captain blinks first and goes the wrong way, Messi calmly rolls the ball in to his left. That could be argued as being a soft penalty but this lead is nothing less than what Argentina deserve. France have not come to the party yet. 

20 mins: Di Maria goes down to a challenge from Dembele on the left inside the box. Cue the drama!

19 mins: France free kick on the left of the box at the edge of it. Griezmann sends it in and Giroud almost climbs over Di Maria to take the header. It goes just over the bar and the referee then says that Giroud had fouled Di Maria there. 

16 mins: Oh that move breaks down due to Di Maria skying his shot. Probably the first blemish for him in this game. The first skier is from Messi, who miscues his shot after taking a cut back from De Paul, it comes to Di Maria at the edge of the box but his shot goes into the stands. 

12 mins: Mbappe tries to release himself with a tight one-two but Tagliafico stays with him and quells the danger. If a goal had come out of that, it would have been the definition of a goal against the run of play as Argentina have been dominant to say the least thus far. 

De Paul's shot from 25 yards but is blocked away. The header from the ensuing corner kick is not cleared well by Rabiot, the ball pops up in the air, bounces in the box and Lloris comes out to collect. He is fouled by Romero and is down for the next few minutes. 

5 mins: Alvarez comes close twice in the first five minutes. First time, the ball is popped up by Di Maria to him very close to the Argentina goalkeeper. He was offside though but the next shot came from distance three minutes later and that was straight at Lloris. 

Allright then, enough with the chatter, we have some football to play! The whistle is blown before the end of the first minute with Tchouameni committing the first foul of the evening. 

The French national anthem comes first and then the Argentine national anthem. Feel it in the air!

Is bathed in sky blue and white with a significant minority of Les Bleus colours. There seems to be a sizeable contingent of Napoli fans who are wearing Argentina colours and carrying Napoli flags with club legend Diego Maradona on it. 

There is a key difference between Brazil's 1962  campaign and France's journey this year, apart from the fact that they are yet to win World Cup of course. Pele was injured in Brazil's first match of the tournament itself. Mbappe is pretty much to this French team what Pele was to Brazil and while France have far more injuries to worry about than Brazil did back then, the PSG forward has been absolutely purring. His turn of pace and his extraordinary eye for the killer pass, apart from his extraordinary finishing abilities, has been a major factor in France reaching the final. 

The closing ceremony for the World Cup featured artists from around the world performing songs from the official soundtrack of the tournament in Qatar. The performers at Lusail stadium included Nigerian singer Davido and Qatari-based songwriter Aisha, Congolese artist Gims and Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Ozuna. The show, featuring fireworks and a light show, was meant to celebrate the world coming together for the monthlong tournament in the Gulf emirate.

French TV carried live images of the France team leaving its hotel in Qatar en route for the championship match and of the players arriving at the stadium. Among them, a smiling Kylian Mbappé looked particularly relaxed. In Paris, the Metro operator marked the momentous occasion by temporarily renaming one of its stations, changing the stop “Argentina” to “Argentina-France, let’s go les Bleus!" Players past and present sent messages of support. “Playing a World Cup final is a childhood dream. Let’s go and get this third star! Allez les Bleus!” Zinedine Zidane posted on Instagram. Striker Karim Benzema, the Ballon d’Or winner who missed this World Cup with a torn left-thigh muscle, posted: “The hour is come. All together. Let’s go.”

Lionel Messi is making his 26th appearance for Argentina at the World Cup finals, breaking the all-time men’s record in doing so. Angel Di Maria starts for the first time since sustaining a foot injury against Poland in the final round of group games.

Di Maria takes the place of Leandro Paredes in midfield as Argentina again rolls out a 4-4-2 formation, with Messi one of the two forwards. Nicolas Tagliafico is preferred to Marcos Acuña at left back.

Kylian Mbappe starts up front for France alongside Olivier Giroud, who has overcome a minor knee injury. Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot come in for Ibrahima Konaté and Youssouf Fofana, respectively.

There are four players who are in with a shout to claim the golden boot today. Messi and Mbappe are both on five goals while Julian Alvarez and Olivier Giroud are on four goals. 

Hugo Lloris; Jules Koundé, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurélien Tchouaméni, Antoine Griezmann, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé, Olivier Giroud.

Subs: Pavard, Disasi, Guendouzi, Muani, Fofana, Veretout, Mandanda, Saliba, Coman, Areola, Konate, Camavinga, Thuram.

Emiliano Martínez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Angel Di Maria, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister; Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi.

Subs: Armani, Foyth, Montiel, Paredes, Pezzella, Acuna, Rulli, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Gomez, Rodriguez, Dybala, Lisandro Martinez, Lautaro Martinez.

Can also be referred to as "Lionel Messi and the Albiceleste's thrill-a-minute ride to the final". Their campaign started off with the mother of all shocks - a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia after squandering a 1-0 lead. Then came five days of disaster analysis and doomsday predictions before Messi pulled them past Mexico with a 2-0 win. They were then clinical in a 2-0 win over Poland that helped them sail to the round of 16 where Messi scored his first-ever goal in a World Cup knockout game (!!!!). Then came the battle against the Dutch. After being 2-0 down for much of the game, Netherlands incredibly scored two in the dying minutes of regular time, with the equaliser being scored off almost the last kick, and pushed the game into extra time. It eventually went to penalties and Argentina won 4-3. It was an ill-tempered game and sparks flew between the players and the dugouts for long after it as well. The mood couldn't be more different in the semi-final against Croatia, with Argentina won 3-0 to reach the final.

France started off with a 4-1 win over Australia which already helped them put one foot in the round of 16. They kept the other foot there with a 2-1 win over Denmark and then could not find their feet in an inconsequential, but still pretty stunning, 1-0 defeat to Tunisia in their final group game. They then schooled Poland in the round of 16, winning that game 3-1 before digging out a couple of wins against teams that arguably played slightly better than them on the night. England lost 2-1 to France in the quarter-finals and the valiant Morocco were beaten 2-0 in the semis.

This is what the Associated Press had to say about the mood in Argentina before the final. "Argentines woke up ready to watch the national team play for its third World Cup title amid a national feeling of unity and joy that is rare for a country that has been engulfed in an economic crisis for years and has one of the worst inflation rates in the world.

"Argentina will face France in the final in Qatar and fan Guillermo Ortiz says “the whole city is dressed with the flag.”

“Argentina last reached the World Cup final in 2014 but lost to Germany. Everyone in the country agrees the sense of anticipation and excitement for this year’s game is far higher than it ever was for that match in Brazil.”