The final time Argentina and France met at a serious worldwide soccer match, the anticipation beforehand was off the charts.
Per week earlier than Christmas in 2022, more than 1.5 billion people tuned in for that World Cup remaining in Qatar to see if Argentine celebrity Lionel Messi would lastly hoist essentially the most coveted trophy in sports activities, or if his then Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappé would lead Les Bleus to their second straight title as a substitute.
Somehow, the match exceeded all expectations. Mbappé scored a hat trick — together with an equalizer in additional time — and Messi twice through the 3-3 tie, which was damaged by Argentina within the penalty kick shootout. It was simply the best World Cup remaining ever contested.
The stakes and the gamers shall be considerably totally different on Friday, when Argentina and France face off once more, this time within the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics.
How so? Let’s rely the methods:
Argentina vs. France: MINI-MOVIE of 2022 FIFA World Cup remaining | FOX Soccer
Will Messi or Mbappé play?
No. The males’s Olympic soccer competitors is for essentially the most half restricted to gamers aged 23 or youthful, with three overage exceptions allowed for every of the 16 collaborating nations. Argentina and France would’ve beloved to incorporate their headliners. But membership groups aren’t obligated to launch gamers for the Summer Games the way in which they’re for World Cups or continental championships. In any occasion, Messi was injured in final month’s Copa América remaining and Mbappé is in preseason with new membership Real Madrid after representing his nation at Euro 2024.
Will anybody from the World Cup remaining take part?
Yes. Three members of Argentina’s group at Qatar 2022 at these Olympics: defender Nicolas Otamendi and forwards Thiago Almada and Julián Álvarez. Álvarez and Otamendi have been starters throughout their World Cup triumph and in addition through the 2024 Copa América. U.S. followers know Almada from his time with Atlanta United; he grew to become the primary lively MLS participant to win a World Cup two years in the past. A squad participant on that group, Almada is operating the present for Argentina in France. Earlier this week, he scored a highlight-worthy aim within the Albiceleste‘s group finale in opposition to Ukraine.
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How have these nations fared at earlier Olympics?
Three-time World Cup champion Argentina received back-to-back Olympic golds in 2004 and 2008, with Messi main the way in which on the latter. France, a two-time World Cup winner, claimed its solely Olympic soccer title 40 years in the past this yr, on the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
Which group is the favourite on Friday?
France. Led by coach and 1998 World Cup champ Thierry Henry, Les Bleus rode their dwelling subject benefit and cruised by group play with three wins in three video games, together with a 3-0 drubbing of the United States.
Argentina, the oddsmakers’ third favourite after France and Spain, have already been crushed as soon as at these Games, with Morocco upsetting the Albiceleste within the Olympic opener. The winner of Friday’s encounter in Bordeaux will tackle both Egypt or Paraguay in Monday’s semifinal in Lyon.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer author for FOX Sports who has lined the United States males’s and girls’s nationwide groups at FIFA World Cups on 5 continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
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