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World Cup | Final
Dec 18, 2022 at 3pm UK
Lusail Iconic Stadium
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Argentina
3 - 3
France

Argentina win 4-2 on penalties
Messi (23' pen., 108'), di Maria (36')
Fernandez (45+7'), Acuna (90+8'), Paredes (114'), Montiel (116'), Martinez (126')
FT
(aet)
Mbappe (80' pen., 81', 118' pen.)
Rabiot (55'), Thuram (87'), Giroud (90+5')

Argentina vs. France: A look at France's record in past World Cup finals

:Headline: Argentina vs. France: A look at France's record in past World Cup finals:
Ahead of Sunday's World Cup final between Argentina and France, Sports Mole looks back on France's record from their three previous World Cup finals.
Sports Mole

Footballing immortality is just 90 minutes away for France as they prepare to face Argentina in the final of the 2022 World Cup on Sunday.

Didier Deschamps's side have achieved the rare feat of making it to back-to-back finals, and victory would see them become only the third team to successfully retain the trophy, after Italy in 1934 and 1938, and Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

Les Bleus' appearance in the final continues an incredible run at the biggest tournament in the sport, having made it all the way to the showpiece in four of the last seven editions of the tournament - twice as many as any other nation in the same timeframe.

Their first-ever World Cup final came in 1998 when they won on home soil, and they repeated that feat 20 years later with their triumph in Russia.

France's only defeat in the World Cup final came in 2006, although even then they were not beaten in normal time, with Italy needing penalties to lift the trophy on that occasion.

Here, Sports Mole looks back at all of France's three previous appearances in the final.



1998: Won 3-0 vs. Brazil

One of the most iconic finals in recent World Cup history, France made it all the way to the showpiece on home soil in 1998, spearheaded by the talismanic Zinedine Zidane.

The final pitted Zidane against the other standout player of his generation - Brazil's Ronaldo - although the drama began before a ball was kicked as Ronaldo was initially left off the Brazilian teamsheet.

Fresh teamsheets were then handed out which did include Ronaldo, and the player of the tournament did ultimately feature, although he was a shadow of the player who had lit up the tournament before then.

It eventually emerged that the striker had suffered a seizure on the afternoon of the final, and with the Brazilian star so far short of his best, centre stage was left to Zidane alone.

The French icon scored two headers to put his side into a commanding lead heading into half time, before Emmanuel Petit capped off the scoring with a late third to rubber-stamp the nation's first-ever World Cup crown.



2006: Drew 1-1 vs Italy (lost 5-3 on penalties)

From the ecstasy of scoring twice in the 1998 final, Zidane wrote his name into World Cup history for contrasting reasons eight years later.

In the final game of his glittering career, the Juventus and Real Madrid legend opened the scoring with an audacious panenka penalty after only seven minutes, becoming only the fourth player in history to score in two separate World Cup finals in the process.

Marco Materazzi equalised for Italy 12 minutes later, although remarkably the goals would not end up being the most memorable involvements for either player in the game.

Instead, that arrived in extra time when the camera panned to Materazzi writhing in agony after an off-the-ball incident, and replays showed that Zidane had headbutted him in the chest in an uncharacteristic loss of temper and discipline.

Zidane was given his marching orders, bringing a heartbreaking and premature end to his legendary career, and more misery was to come as Italy went on to prevail on penalties.



2018: Won 4-2 vs. Croatia

After falling agonisingly short on home turf at Euro 2016, France's second golden generation fulfilled their potential in style with a convincing 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final in Moscow four years ago.

Mario Mandzukic suffered the ignominy of scoring the first own goal in a World Cup final to break the deadlock, disastrously diverting a free kick past his own keeper after 18 minutes, but Ivan Perisic restored parity 10 minutes later.

Ten minutes after that, the first VAR-awarded penalty in a World Cup final allowed Antoine Griezmann to restore France's lead, and two goals in six second-half minutes then put Les Bleus in complete control.

The second of those saw Kylian Mbappe become only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final - after Pele - and although Mandzukic atoned for his earlier own goal to pull one back with a large helping hand from Hugo Lloris, France held on for their second title after the highest-scoring final since 1966.


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