Messi, Argentina deservedly lead poor France at half
Published
Argentina is 45 minutes away from its first FIFA World Cup triumph since 1986 after a dominant first-half performance. The Albiceleste deservedly leads France 2-0 at the half on goals from Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria.
Should France be able to overturn the deficit, Les Bleus could become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.
Argentina made one change to the starting XI that took on Croatia in the semis with Lionel Scaloni bringing Di Maria into the lineup in place of Leandro Paredes. Lionel Messi extended his record for World Cup appearances with the start taking him to 26. For France, Didier Deschamps turned to the usual XI he preferred prior to the semis with Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano well enough to start after an illness and Youssouf Fofana and Ibrahim Konaté returning to the bench.
After a tentative start, Argentina had the first chance of the match. Rodrigo De Paul looped a ball over the France backline from close range to Julian Alvarez, who spun to meet. The Manchester City forward's effort was stopped by Hugo Lloris, but it was moot as the flag rightly went up for offside in the third minute. Just two minutes later, the Albiceleste recorded the first official shot of the match as Alexis Mac Allister's hard shot from distance was right to Lloris.
The match stopped for several minutes just before the 10-minute mark when Lloris needed attending to by the medical staff after taking an elbow to the ribs from Tottenham Hotspur teammate Cristian Romero off of an Argentina corner. There was no booking on the play.
Sloppy and uncertain football from Les Bleus was once again nearly punished in the 17th when Theo Hernandez turned the ball over to Messi deep in his own half. Messi then played in Alvarez with a fine pass before he tried to cut back for Messi near the penalty spot. After a deflection, the ball fell enticingly to Angel Di Maria who hammered well over the bar.
Les Bleus finally paid for their slow start in the 23rd. As Di Maria cut inside the area from the left, he went to ground under pressure from Ousmane Dembélé. The referee immediately pointed to the spot adjudging that the Barcelona man clipped the Juventus winger's heels.
Messi once again stepped up to take and sent Lloris the wrong way to make it 1-0. It was Messi's tournament-leading sixth goal and 12th of his career, bringing him level with the iconic Pele.
The Albiceleste would grab one more before the break with one of the best team goals of the tournament started by Messi deep into his own territory. Pouncing on a turnover, Messi found Alvarez, who flicked on for Mac Allister. The Brighton man streaked forward with urgency until he perfectly timed a low cross from Di Maria, who poked home in the 36th to make it 2-0. Di Maria openly wept after scoring his goal, knowing that Argentina was on the cusp of glory.
Attempting to give life to his team's flagging fortunes, Deschamps made a double substitute late in the half with Dembélé and Olivier Giroud withdrawn for Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Mouani.