‘Messi doesn’t scare us’: France star ahead of World Cup final against Argentina

The final match of FIFA World Cup 2022 will be played between Argentina and France on Sunday, December 18. The road to the final was a tough one for both teams as Argentina shockingly lost to Saudi Arabia in the group stage and France were humbled by Tunisia in the first round. Now both nations will compete to claim the third title in their history of playing the tournament.

As the countdown to the climax of the greatest tournament in football starts, there is a lot of focus on Argentina's superstar Lionel Messi. Added to expectations of yet another brilliance and exhibition of natural talent from Messi, he has also announced his retirement from international football for Argentina after the title clash. The build-up around the final is getting warmer as the stakes are quite high.

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Reigning World Champions France are aiming to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to defend their title and only the third nation to do so in the history of the tournament. One of the heroes of France's semi-final win over Morocco on Thursday, Theo Hernandez weighed in on the upcoming title clash against Argentina and gave a sneak peek into the France's strategy to outwit the Messi-led South American team.

“It was nice to win this semi-final but on Sunday we have to be at 100%. Messi doesn’t scare us, Argentina has an incredible team but we have a few days to work and prepare properly,” said Hernandez to RAI Sport after the semi-final win on Thursday.

"Playing two World Cup finals in a row is an incredible moment. We did a good job. It was hard, but we are in the final," he added.

"We will work hard to win this final. I also have a big thought for my brother," he concluded referring to Lucas Hernandez, who is also a part of France squad but has been sidelined after suffering a knee injury during France's opening 4-1 group stage win over Australia.

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