By Onochie Anibeze, Doha

The next World Cup will begin on Monday, June 8, 2026 and will end on Friday, July 3, 2026.

Will France still attend as the defending champions and possibly set the record of successfully defending World Cup title three times in a row? DREAMS! Nothing is impossible but 2026 is far from now.

They can begin to nurse such a dream if they win this edition here in Qatar tomorrow. They face Argentina who have won the World Cup two times (1978 and 1986), same number of times they have equally won the diadem – in 1998 and in 2018.

France are determined to defend the title. Some of the players who will line up for them tomorrow have tasted the World Cup, not so for Argentina who won the cup last in 1986 with the then best player in the world, Diego Maradona as captain. Tomorrow, Argentina will also be led by another world best in Lionel Messi who has won everything but the World Cup. He is hungrier than the French. He is 35 and will be playing his last World Cup match tomorrow. Doing so in a final delights him and winning it will be the greatest for him.

At Barcelona FC where he played his best football, Messi was like a god. He won matches and inspired the whole city of Barcelona. The team looked ordinary without him. It was not so with the national team where he couldn’t quite display same magic until this World Cup although one cannot forget his laudable outing in last year’s Copa America.

Here in Qatar 2022 World Cup, Messi has led well and hopes to end it well tomorrow. They overcame the 2-1 opening round shocking defeat by Saudi Arabia and have fought their way to the final. They play a very good side with a Kylian Mbape whose speed can earn him a race with Cheetah. Mbape is the force, the strength of France in this World Cup and Messi, the inspiration and face of Argentina. The two players may directly or indirectly determine the winners of 2022 Qatar World Cup.

ARGENTINA

One thing was clear in their semifinal match with Croatia. Argentina quickly corrected their past mistakes and they have been tactically progressive after the Saudi Arabia shocker. From that match they learnt not to underrate any side again. The gave the Saudis so much space, couldn’t just lift their game and paid for it. 2-0 victory against Poland and another 2-0 victory against Mexico signalled what people later saw in them – potential winners. They beat Australia 2-1 in the round of 16 but the quarter final clash with the Netherlands exposed one fault which they corrected against Croatia in the semifinal. Football is not about scoring goals only, it is also about defending. In fact, many teams that enjoyed greater possession of the ball lost the matches here in Qatar. It was evident in the two semifinal matches – Croatia against Argentina and Morocco against France.

Argentina led 2-0 before Holland equalised and stretched the quarter final game to penalties. Against Croatia, they organised their defence so superbly that the greater ball possession of the Europeans didn’t threaten them. People expected more from the team that eliminated Brazil and generally felt that Croatia failed to re-enact the feat against Brazil. Many attributed this to poor fighting spirit that lowered their output. False. Argentina’s game simply knocked them out of their stride. They allowed Croatia all the space to enjoy greater possession in their own half but completely marked them out in Argentina’s half of the field especially in approaching the box area. They divided the field into three, did only shadow-marking in the first, closed up in the second and blocked the third. It was brilliant. This worked well with a counter-attack approach that made their forays so deadly. And they scored their goals with Messi mesmerising Croatia’s defenders, scoring a penalty and setting up Julian Alvarez to clinically finish up in the 3-0 victory.

Against France tomorrow, they will play same way. The interesting thing is that France also play the counter attack football. Will the two sides sit back and go on the counter? The coaches must work out something different either in the deployment of tactics or players or both, something must give for a winner to emerge.

Argentina have strong defence in Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico. Mac Allister, Messi and Alvarez are great scorers. France will surely not have more than Messi to contend with. Alvarez has been clinical in this tournament and may pose greater danger to France than Messi. He scored against Poland, scored against Australia and Croatia. He has the scoring prowess that can work against France especially when Messi is on top of his game. If Messi plays well Argentina may lift the cup. If France cage him and stop him from producing those moments of brilliance he is known for, Argentina’s World Cup stories will still be about Maradona in 1986 and Daniel Passarella in 1978 although Mario Kempes is still being touted as THE MAN WHO WON THE 1978 WORLD CUP.

FRANCE

Didier Deschamps is said not to be glamorous, colourful or marked for creativity. But he is simple and plays simple football. His admirers say his simplicity is his creativity. His approach has been same since he started coaching France after leading them as captain to win their first ever World Cup in 1998. He has been consistent with France in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. He plays 4-3-3 formation. They pass the ball a few times at the rear and get Dembele and Mbappe running either through the right or the left. Olivier Giroud is also running at the same time for a cross. This is France, simple. It is direct and no complex game. They build from either the left or right flanks and get the ball as quickly as possible into opponents’ goal area. Deschamps finds players who fit into this approach. They get the job done by imposing his concept on opponents. Deschamps may not change formations even when things are tough. He believes in players muscling opponents and executing his instructions. They run on opponents, breakaway in blistering counter-attack football and get the job done. Kylian Mbappe fits into this so much that Deschamps cannot afford to lose him. Any early injury on Mbappe may leave France stranded.

He will be the major problem for Argentina. This is not, however ruling out the skills of Dembele, Griezman and the flying headers of Giroud. They have a good goalkeeper in Lloris, the Tottenham player whose performance ensured England’s exit. They have other good players in Kounde, Varane, Konate, Hernandez and Fofana. Note this: Morocco dislodged their defence, sometimes with ease, but the Africans lacked the finishing power to make hay. That was their undoing. It may not be so against Argentina. Argentina have Molina, Mac Allista, Fernandez, Alvarez and Messi. If France present the type of defence organisation we saw against Morocco, Messi will achieve his dream of lifting the World Cup trophy otherwise France may repeat the Brazil feat of winning the World Cup back to back when the Samba football nation won it in 1958 and 1962 with Pele, the greatest of all time. But samba doesn’t reign any more. Even Brazil try to be faster than Europeans. Neymar slowed them down in a show of skill that didn’t help them.

What may count for the teams

ARGENTINA 

*Argentine fans will outnumber French fans. Travelling to support their teams is strongly entrenched in the Argentine football culture. They are here in numbers and will seize the Lusail Stadium tomorrow. Support is good but the players must deliver on the pitch. Morocco were probably the most supported team here. That didn’t stop France from nailing them 2-0.

*Argentina have one Lionel Messi, a player I described as TYPEWRITER for the magic he does with legs on the pitch. I likened to the sound the fingers produce, hitting on the keys of a typewriter. Messi is magical and with the clinical finish of Alvarez they stand a good chance of winning.

FRANCE

*The direct football of France, flowing from the simplicity of their coach, Didier Deschamps, is an attribute that can earn them victory. Their style has made them more confident than all the teams in Qatar 2022 World Cup.

*France have a young, dynamic sensation in Kylian Mbape whose blistering speed can outpace any player. His speed and power will trouble Argentina. He can win the Cup for France by scoring, assisting others to score or attracting more attention to himself which will create opening for his teammates. Messi does same for Argentina. The world of soccer will be thrilling tomorrow. But everybody should be mindful of the fact that World Cup opening and final matches are usually not very entertaining largely because of the tension that grips the players and the extraordinary measure of teams not to concede goal first. Will Qatar 2022 be different? It is just 24 hours away.

World Cup past Winners

Beginning on June 14, 32 teams from around the world will descend on Russia to take part 

in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It’s the 21st edition of the world’s premier sporting event, and plenty of football forces will vie for the 2018 title, including powerhouses Spain, Brazil, France, Germany and Argentina. 

Want to know who will win the 2018 World Cup? We can’t tell you that, but we can tell you who won each of the first 20 World Cups, dating back to the inaugural tournament in 1930. To get you set for Russia 2018, here’s a World Cup championship leaderboard and a rundown of every championship game in this illustrious event. 

World Cup Titles 

Brazil – 5

Germany/West Germany – 4

Italy – 4

Argentina – 2

Uruguay – 2

Spain – 1

France – 2

England -1 

World Cup Final history

Uruguay 1930: Uruguay def. Argentina 4-2

Italy 1934: Italy def. Czechoslovakia 2-1 (ET)

France 1938: Italy def. Hungary 4-2 

Brazil 1950: Uruguay def. Brazil 2-1

Switzerland 1954: West Germany def. Hungary 3-2 

Sweden 1958: Brazil def. Sweden 5-2

Chile 1962: Brazil def. Czechoslovakia 3-1

England 1966: England def. West Germany 4-2 (ET)

Mexico 1970: Brazil def. Italy 4-1

West Germany 1974: West Germany def. the Netherlands 2-1

Argentina 1978: Argentina def. the Netherlands 3-1 (ET)

Spain 1982: Italy def. West Germany 3-1

Mexico 1986: Argentina def. West Germany 3-2 

Italy 1990: West Germany def. Argentina 1-0 USA 1994: Brazil def. Italy 0-0 (3-2 PKs) 

France 1998: France def. Brazil 3-0

Japan 2002: Brazil def. Germany 2-0 

Germany 2006: Italy def. France 1-1 (5-3 PKs)

South Africa 2010: Spain def. the Netherlands 1-0 (ET) 

Brazil 2014: Germany def. Argentina 1-0 (ET)

Russia 2018: France def. Croatia 4-2 

2022?