The date of December 18, 2022, will resonate through the minds of Lionel Messi and Argentina fans for life. The stage was set for a mouth-watering clash between the defending champions France and the champions of South America, Argentina. The French National team was in red-hot form. They hadn’t lost a single game in the tournament and their star players like Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud, etc. were at the peak of their powers.
Lionel Messi and Argentina completed football exactly 11months ago today 🐐pic.twitter.com/7sbVDAabLv
— Moh💥 (@koladoski10) November 18, 2023
But that night at the Lusail Stadium was destined to be Argentina’s night. Soccer fans across the globe, were rooting for Messi to win the World Cup, the missing piece of his puzzle. This became an added motivation for his fellow teammates, giving it all for their leader. Argentina played some fearless soccer that day. While their opposition looked timid and lackluster.
Although in big games of this stature, the players’ motivation plays a bigger role than tactics, Argentina got their plan right on that day. Here’s a brief look at their plan for the final.
Argentina under Lionel Messi perfectly executed their coach’s plan
It was expected before the game that Argentina would play their normal game. Under Scaloni, Argentina had always played press-heavy high-possession-based soccer. And there, was no way Argentina was going to overthink about it. While their opponents, France was a very fluid team. It had a mixture of experience and youth and use their creative players in the middle to release the young players on the wings.
1) Neutralising France’s main threats:
What Argentina, got right was targeting France’s primary threats. Throughout the tournament, teams were seen doubling down on Mbappe, playing on the flanks. This opened up space in the middle, where players like Griezmann, Rabiot, and Giroud pounced. Griezmann in particular shone with creativity on the pitch.
Argentina on the other hand, employed a strategy of aggressive pressing in the middle of the park. The creative players were troubled by the discipline and aggression of Argentina’s midfielders, who pressed at the right time. Griezmann in particular, had a very woeful evening.
His passing options were blocked, and had to receive passes at very unfavorable parts of the pitch, which worked in the favour of Argentina. Kingsley Coman replaced him in the 71st minute.
2) Use of the middle by Lionel Messi and Co.
Argentina was blessed to have incisive players like Julian Alvarez, Di Maria, Mac Allister, and Lionel Messi who linked up perfectly during the game. Argentina’s game plan was to heavily press Griezmann, and outnumber the two other midfielders. And their plan worked wonders.
It was Mac Allister’s job to push forward to attract opposition players, which in turn left Di Maria on the left wing with acres of space. Alvarez too dropped deep and was constantly making diligent runs into the box, much to the frustration of the French defenders.
This numerical superiority of Argentina over France’s midfield paid dividends. At any time, Messi could look up and constantly find more than 2 options to pass the ball. He specifically, could play a long ball to Di Maria on the left. The convergence of these factors was evident in Argentina’s second goal, a masterpiece executed by Di Maria.
Argentina’s excellent mid-block
Argentina was constantly attacked by the pacey wingers of France, in the second half. Eventually, France came back into the game and the score at the end of the game was 3-3, which was won by Argentina on penalties. But till the 80th minute, it was a pure display of Argentine resistance.
To counter France’s attacks, Scaloni and his men came up with a brilliant idea. The Argentine team employed a 4-3-3 mid-block, that was very difficult to break. They broke the passing lines and tightly marked France’s creative midfielders.
This allowed Argentina to not allow France to play through their structure and crowd out crucial areas. Argentina employed their high-intensity midfielders to press French players. This meant that France found it difficult to progress to the final third of the pitch.
France’s tactical changes in the 2nd Half
By the end of the 2nd half, France was in deep trouble. They were 2-0 down in a World Cup final, against that was dominating them. Their star players weren’t working their magic, and there was a call for a change.
France introduced some young blood in the second half. The plan was to use the creativity and pace of the young French players to break the resistance of the Argentine defense. And this is what exactly happened.
France switched to a 4-2-4, to put more emphasis on progressing the ball out from the wing. France put two strikers up top. While Marcus Thuram played close to the right side of the center, Mbappe played close to Kolo Muani on the left. Kingsley Coman finished the front four.
Kylian Mbappe finally breached the Argentine defense, in the 80th minute, by converting a penalty kick. A minute later, France equalized. The combination of Thuram-Mbappe took the Argentine defense by surprise, who had just conceded a goal. The finish of Kylian Mbappe was spectacular, hitting a first-time shot to make the score 2-2.
In the extra time, Argentina scored first, when Lionel Messi scored an easy tap-in after Lautaro Martinez‘s shot was saved by the French Goalkeeper and Captain Hugo Lloris. Mbappe equalized from the spot a few minutes later to complete his hat trick.
All in all, it was nothing but a picturesque display of soccer by Argentina. Scaloni and his team stuck to their plan and played their natural soccer. In their, heads Scaloni’s men were World Champions way before they entered the field. The player gave their everything on the pitch, and therefore they’re the rightful owners of the World Cup trophy now. This was