Who Will Win the 2022 World Cup?

The 2022 World Cup has been one of the most exciting editions of the tournament ever. Each team is stacked with incredible soccer players, including Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez, and Alexis MacCallister for Argentina, and Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, and Olivier Giroud for France. But who will take home the trophy?

The United States cheered on their team as they played in the World Cup for the first time in eight years, the entire continent of Africa backed the surprise semifinalists, Morocco, who knocked out several of the tournament’s favorites, and sympathized with superstars Ronaldo and Neymar as their World Cup dreams came to an end. Now, the final is set for December 18, in which Argentina is set to confront the reigning champions, France.

ARGENTINA

To get to the World Cup final, Argentina had to get through a surprising group stage loss to Saudi Arabia, but rebounded with wins against Poland and Mexico before moving through to the knockout stage. Although the South Americans advanced easily past Australia, they were almost knocked out by the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, but prevailed on penalty kicks. After a decisive semifinal win against Croatia, can Argentina take out the defending champions?

Messi’s Skill

Lionel Messi is the face of Argentinian soccer, and for good reason. With 5 goals, he is currently tied for first place in the Golden Boot race, the award given to the player who scores the most goals in the World Cup, captains the team, is the recipient of seven Ballon d’Or awards, and is widely considered to be one of the best soccer players of all time. Messi is fairly calm and quiet compared to many other soccer players, but his quiet, strong leadership commands attention and respect on and off the field. He is an incredible goal scorer and has very high soccer intelligence, able to see clever passes no one else does and create chances out of balls others gave up on. Messi is creative, offensively deadly, and an excellent leader, and may just be Argentina’s key to victory.

Playing For Something Bigger

Despite Argentina having won two previous World Cups and having a lot of historical success in soccer, they have not won the tournament since 1986. This means Messi has never won a World Cup, and at 35 years old, Messi has announced that this is his last try at a World Cup championship. With this in mind, Argentina has been working tirelessly to get their legend a title. This determination and motivation may just push them over France to the top.

FRANCE

Similarly to Argentina, France had a surprising loss in the group stage to Tunisia. However, they won their other two group games against Denmark and Australia. Once they entered the knockout round, France defeated Poland, and then defeated England in an exciting quarterfinal match-up. And France’s last task was to put the Cinderella story of Morocco to an end. Once that was accomplished with a 2-1 victory, France earned their spot in the final, and now have the chance for back to back wins.

Incredible Offensive Power

On France’s World Cup roster are Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud, two offensive powerhouses that will play a big role in France’s chance to win the World Cup. With his goals in this tournament, Giroud has become France’s all-time highest goal scorer with 53 goals, and he doesn’t show signs of slowing down. As for Mbappé, he won the Best Young Player award in the 2018 World Cup, and is currently tied with Messi for the Golden Boot Award this tournament. Griezmann, another French forward, has also been excellent for France’s offensive line. France is tied with England for the most goals scored in this tournament, 13, and with their advancement over England to the World Cup final, they’ll likely be the sole owners of that record.

Historic Power and Success

Only two countries in the history of the World Cup have managed to achieve back to back World Cup championships, and France now has the chance to be a historic third. France has experienced great World Cup success, and has always had an excellent soccer team, currently ranked fourth in the world by FIFA (coincidentally right under Argentina, who are ranked third). France are motivated to make history in this World Cup, and it could put them in first place.

As of now, France and Argentina have almost identical odds for winning the World Cup. The game is sure to be exciting, dramatic, and historical, and may even go into overtime or penalty kicks. But looking ahead, especially after France’s messy, tighter games against England and Morocco, Argentina may just have the edge.