Didier Deschamps said “precautions” must be taken to limit Lionel Messi’s influence when France and Argentina meet at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The France national soccer team, which is the defending world champion, is just one win away from clinching the FIFA World Cup title for the second time in a row. But they have to beat the Argentine soccer team and Lionel Messi in the final to lift the coveted trophy on Sunday.
France qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup final after defeating Morocco 2-0 in the semi-final. Meanwhile, Argentina cruised to a 3-0 win over Croatia to book their place in the 2022 World Cup final.
Both France and Argentina have won the FIFA World Cup title twice before and are bidding to win it for the third time this Sunday.
Didier Deschamps on facing Lionel Messi in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final
France will have to limit Lionel Messi’s influence when they face Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. Lionel Messi has been impressive for Argentina in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and he could make France pay the price for the slightest mistake.
Speaking of facing Lionel Messi in the 2022 World Cup final, Didier Deschamps told TF1 [via GOAL]:: “We already met him, do you remember (at the 2018 World Cup)? We’ll think about it. Inevitably, precautions must be taken to limit its influence. Four years ago we expected him to be more to the right and play as a center forward.
“Now he is a midfielder, he has more freedom, so it will be more difficult to mark him. Unless he’s sick, we don’t know, I don’t want that for him, of course.”
Lionel Messi has already scored five goals for Argentina in Qatar in 2022. The 35-year-old has scored one goal each in five of Argentina’s six games so far in Qatar 2022.
Lionel Messi was impressive for Argentina when they beat Croatia in the semi-final. He scored Argentina’s first goal against Croatia and provided an impressive assist for Julián Álvarez to score his third goal of the match.
Meanwhile, the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Argentina kicks off at 8:30pm India Standard Time on Sunday, December 18.
