Argentina vs France: World Cup final combined XI
By Tom Gott
Two of the pre-tournament favourites have made it all the way to the World Cup final, with Argentina and France set to battle it out for the ultimate glory.
The narrative has been written for weeks. It's Lionel Messi's last chance to lead his country to a World Cup triumph, but he'll have to go through the reigning champions if he is to accomplish the one feat which has so far eluded him throughout his iconic career.
One thing's for sure, this is going to be a fantastic game, played by some of the world's top talents. Combining the two squads into one starting lineup isn't easy, but here's what we came up with.
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GK: Emiliano Martinez - It's tough to decide between Martinez and Hugo Lloris. Both are excellent goalkeepers who appear to step their game up at international level, and it's the Argentine who has reached the higher height in Qatar. He was the penalty-saving hero against the Netherlands and will fancy himself against anyone from the spot.
RB: Jules Kounde - It's been a while since France have played with a natural right-back. Kounde is more of a central option but still knows how to get the job done out wide, and he just about earns the nod over Nahuel Molina.
CB: Cristian Romero - After starting the tournament as a substitute, Romero forced his way into Lionel Scaloni's starting lineup and has been a constant presence at the back, lining up alongside either Nicolas Otamendi or Lisandro Martinez.
CB: Raphael Varane - France have a lot of quality options in defence. Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano are both stars of the present and future, but both will still dream of emulating the success achieved by Varane, who remains one of the game's elite defenders.
LB: Theo Hernandez - There's an argument to suggest Theo, who didn't even start France's first game, is the best left-back on the planet. Nicolas Tagliafico and Marcos Acuna have impressed for Argentina, but Theo is on a different level.
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DM: Aurelien Tchouameni - Similarly, Tchouameni is an elite defensive midfielder who has taken his chance in the absence of Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante. France's midfield could be his for the next decade.
DM: Alexis Mac Allister - Mac Allister has played in plenty of different roles but has been excelling in them all. The Brighton man appears to be relishing the defensive side of things this season but brings some real creativity to the table as well. He's quietly becoming the complete midfielder.
AM: Antoine Griezmann - Playing in the 10 role for France, Griezmann has been utterly sensational. The Atletico Madrid man, who has been an unwanted commodity at club level for a few years now, takes his game to a whole new stratosphere internationally and will have had some at Barcelona questioning how they couldn't make it work out for him.
RW: Lionel Messi - Messi plays central these days but his freedom to roam wherever he wants to sees him pop up on his original right side. He's playing some of the best football of his career this season, combining goals and assists with frightening ease, and he'll be vital to Argentina's chances of success.
LW: Kylian Mbappe - Duh. Mbappe may be the best player on the planet these days and he's on the hunt for a Golden Boot, entering into Sunday's final tied with PSG teammate Messi on five goals.
ST: Olivier Giroud - Credit to Julian Alvarez for making this a tough decision, but France Giroud is one of the scariest strikers around. His link-up play with his agile teammates is impeccable and he's scoring plenty of goals this winter as well. Alvarez is a very, very close second, but Giroud gets the nod.