World Cup

[monks data]

World Cup | Final

Dec 18, 2022 at 3pm UK

Lusail Iconic Stadium

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

World Cup 2022: Why to expect an Antoine Griezmann assist against Argentina

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 17 December 2022

Ahead of Sunday's World Cup 2022 final between France and Argentina, Sports Mole looks at why to expect an assist from Antoine Griezmann.

Argentina and France will bring the curtain down on an unforgettable winter World Cup at the Lusail Iconic Stadium for Sunday's final.

La Albiceleste - who were crowned champions of the globe in 1978 and 1986 - recorded a 3-0 semi-final success over Croatia to advance to the grand finale, as Lionel Messi's penalty preceded a Julian Alvarez brace.

Meanwhile, France broke Moroccan hearts with a 2-0 win over the first-ever African nation to make the semi-finals of the World Cup, as Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani's goals made the difference.

Didier Deschamps's side are now within touching distance of becoming only the third nation in history to win back-to-back World Cup titles, although preparations for the big one have been disrupted to the maximum as a virus sweeps its way through the camp.

However, Les Bleus could yet be working with a fully-fit squad for Sunday's final, and their creator-in-chief Antoine Griezmann has crucially managed to stay free of infection as he prepares to pull the midfield strings again.

The Atletico Madrid attacker memorably could not force his way into Diego Simeone's starting lineup a couple of months ago amid a bitter financial dispute with Barcelona, and he had seen far better days in red and white before boarding the plane to Qatar.

England's Jude Bellingham in action with France's Antoine Griezmann at the World Cup on December 10, 2022 © Reuters

Patchy form at club level has proven inconsequential for Griezmann, though, as the former Real Sociedad star enters the World Cup final having created the most chances out of any player in Qatar so far.

Griezmann has fashioned a tournament-high 21 chances for his teammates in his six appearances so far - averaging 3.5 per game, which is exactly the same as his expected assists tally - and he has set up three goals in the process too.

The 31-year-old came up with an assist for Kylian Mbappe against Denmark before providing the final balls for both Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud against England, with his affinity for creativity proving a problem for teams to contain throughout the tournament.

During Les Bleus' semi-final success over Morocco, Griezmann received as many plaudits for his exceptional defensive interventions as he did his playmaking penchant, and he can be expected to ignite and potentially finish any Bleus attacks at Lusail.

Griezmann is actually still waiting for his first goal of the 2022 World Cup, but the Atletico conductor can wholly focus on his creative exploits while Giroud and Mbappe are there to put the ball in the back of the net.

With Giroud now leading the top of the French men's scoring charts and five-goal Mbappe in contention for a coveted World Cup golden boot, Griezmann's prospects of increasing his ever-growing assists total are very strong indeed.