The final is here! France and Argentina fans get ready to watch their teams face off to see who will win World Cup glory in Qatar
France and Argentina fans are getting ready to watch their teams face off in the World Cup final this afternoon.
People are already turning up to Qatar‘s Lusail Stadium in Doha donning their country’s football strips ahead of the final which kicks off at 3pm.
Fans are waving flags, scarves and replica World Cup trophies as they turn out to watch Argentina take on the reining champions.
One seemingly complacent French fan has been photographed wearing a tricolour jacket emblazoned with the words ‘France is the 2022 World Cup Champions’ along with a picture of one of the team’s star players Kylian Mbappé.
Argentina fans hold a poster of Lionel Messi and wave the country’s flag ahead of the final this afternoon
French fans wear their country’s football strip as they hope to retain their World Cup title
People are already turning up to Qatar’s Lusail Stadium in Doha donning their country’s football strips more than three hours before the final kicks off at 3pm
Fans are waving flags, scarves and replica World Cup trophies as they turn out to watch Argentina take on the reining champions
One seemingly complacent French fan has been photographed wearing a tricolour jacket emblazoned with the words ‘France is the 2022 World Cup Champions’ along with a picture of one of the team’s star players Kylian Mbappé
Others have made cardboard cutouts of the 23-year-old French star, while Argentina fans hold posters of football legend Lionel Messi.
The match this afternoon has been presented as a showdown between Mbappé and Messi, considered as two of the best players in the world.
Both players have excelled in Qatar and are tied at the top of the goalscoring charts with five – although Messi is also joint-top of the playmaker standings with a further three assists.
For Messi it represents potentially his last chance to add that all important World Cup winners medal to the most glittering of trophy cabinets the game has ever seen, and the opportunity to finally put any doubt to bed that he belongs alongside the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona as a football immortal.
But in the case of Mbappe, Sunday’s final could see him walk away with a second World Cup before his 24th birthday, having lifted the trophy in Russia four years ago.
And the French back home seem to be taking the opportunity to hold on to their title very seriously, renaming their Argentine Metro station ‘France’ in a dig at their South American rivals.
Fans show their support for Argentina outside the Lusail Stadium where the final will kick off at 6pm local time
A fan of France has painted the country’s flag on his cheeks and dons a tri-colour wig and glasses
An Argentina fan wearing an elaborate hat in the country’s colours waves at Souq Waqif market in Doha ahead of today’s final
The mood in Qatar appears to be very upbeat, with football fans from around the world donning the colours of their chosen team
Meanwhile, the mood in Qatar appears to be very upbeat, with football fans from around the world donning the colours of their chosen team.
People are already out celebrating on the streets ahead of this afternoon’s match which will mark the end of a controversial World Cup.
Controversy has surrounded Qatar’s hosting of the finals since they were awarded in 2010, with the country’s treatment of migrant workers and criminalisation of same-sex relationships among the issues which have caused the most concern.
A man wearing a French football strip and waving the country’s flag smiles ahead of his team taking on Argentina in the World Cup Final
People are already out celebrating on the streets ahead of this afternoon’s match which will mark the end of a controversial World Cup
Fans of Les Bleus sing and cheer at Souq Waqif market in Doha this afternoon
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