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

Argentina
3 - 3
France

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 win 4-2 on penalties

A look at France's route to the 2022 World Cup final

Sports Mole takes a closer look at France's route to the 2022 World Cup final.

France will be bidding to make it back-to-back World Cup titles when they take on Argentina in the final of the competition on Sunday afternoon.

Didier Deschamps's side have overcome Poland, England and Morocco in the knockout rounds of the competition to advance to the final in Qatar.

France will now be looking to become just the third side in history to win successive World Cups after Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962).

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at how the Blues have reached the final, with their campaign starting almost one month ago against Australia.


Group Stage - Top of Group D

France players celebrate Kylian Mbappe's goal against Denmark on November 26, 2022© Reuters

France won two and lost one of their three matches in the group stage of this year's World Cup, scoring six goals and conceding three, which saw them finish above second-place Australia on goal difference.

Deschamps's side actually fell behind to Australia in their first game at the competition on November 22, but they then scored four times without reply to open their tournament with a 4-1 win.

France then secured qualification for the round of 16 with a 2-1 success over Denmark on November 26, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a double for the world champions, including the winner in the 86th minute.

The Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tunisia in their final group match at the end of November, but Deschamps made wholesale changes with the side already through to the knockout round.


Last 16 (3-1 win vs. Poland)

France's Olivier Giroud celebrates scoring against Poland at the World Cup on December 4, 2022© Reuters

France's prize for finishing top of Group D was a match against Poland in the round of 16, and it proved to be a relatively comfortable contest for Deschamps's side.

Olivier Giroud broke the deadlock in the 44th minute before Mbappe scored twice in the latter stages to send France three goals ahead against their fellow European nation.

Robert Lewandowski scored a late penalty for Poland, but it was only a consolation, with Mbappe inspiring his team once again in the first knockout tie.


Quarter-finals (2-1 win vs. England)

France's Aurelien Tchouameni celebrates scoring against England at the World Cup on December 10, 2022© Reuters

France's biggest test of the tournament came against England in the quarter-finals, and it would be fair to say that it was a dramatic contest at Al Bayt Stadium.

Aurelien Tchouameni sent the Blues ahead in the 17th minute with a thunderous strike before Harry Kane levelled the scores from the penalty spot early in the second period.

Giroud's header in the 78th minute proved to be the difference between the two sides, but that was not the final piece of major action, with Kane spectacularly missing a penalty for the Three Lions in the 84th minute.

There was not much to choose between the two sides during the pulsating contest, but France managed to get the job done without playing brilliantly in order to set up a clash with Morocco.


Semi-finals (2-0 win vs. Morocco)

Theo Hernandez celebrates scoring for France against Morocco on December 14, 2022© Reuters

Morocco spectacularly overcame Spain and then Portugal in the knockout rounds to make the final four, with the African country dreaming of a spot in the final of the competition.

The semi-final proved to be a step too far for Morocco, though, with France scoring early and then late to record a 2-0 victory at Al Bayt Stadium.

Theo Hernandez made the breakthrough in the fifth minute of the contest before Randal Kolo Muani came off the bench to score from close range in the 79th minute.

It was another professional rather than spectacular performance from Deschamps's side, who will now face their toughest test in the competition against Argentina.


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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Netherlands Netherlands32107
Q Senegal flag Senegal32016
3 Ecuador flag Ecuador31114
4 Qatar Qatar30030

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England32107
Q United States USA31205
3 Iran Iran31023
4 Wales flag Wales30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Argentina Argentina32016
Q Poland Poland31114
3 Mexico Mexico31114
4 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia31023

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France32016
Q Australia Australia32016
3 Tunisia Tunisia31114
4 Denmark Denmark30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Japan Japan32016
Q Spain Spain31114
3 Germany Germany31114
4 Costa Rica flag Costa Rica31023

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Morocco Morocco32107
Q Croatia Croatia31205
3 Belgium Belgium31114
4 Canada Canada30030

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Brazil Brazil32016
Q Switzerland Switzerland32016
3 Cameroon flag Cameroon31114
4 Serbia Serbia30121

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Republic of Korea South Korea31114
3 Uruguay flag Uruguay31114
4 Ghana flag Ghana31023


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