How Messi's Argentina beat Mbappe's France | World Cup 22' Analysis
Before kick-off, Argentina vs France was a tough game to call…
But as soon as kick-off commenced, it was a game of complete contrast.
Tactically speaking, there’s a lot to pick out so let’s first begin with the intangible notion of tempo.
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Tempo
Right from the off you could see that Argentina were up for the occasion.
Lionel Scaloni’s side were much sharper in the first half and the majority of the second half in fairness, and this was due to their tempo.
Even though they had the majority of the ball, they played the game with speed and efficiency, looking to pressure Deschamps’ side in every possible approach, on and off the ball.
It’s worth noting that France had no answer to this for the majority of the game.
Scaloni: Stick or Twist?
Having switched formation across every single game, Scaloni faced a tactical conundrum going into the final having witnessed his team outclass Croatia in a 4-4-2 shape.
Many would have expected the 4-4-2 system to feature for the third time this tournament, but Scaloni indeed decided to twist once more.
As such, a 4-3-3 system was what followed and looking at it retrospectively, it was a phenomenal decision, with Scaloni’s tactics differing once more.
Didier Deschamps would have been expecting Argentina to follow their theme of deploying their full-backs high and wide to achieve width, yet this was of course not the case.
Instead, Scaloni opted to take a leaf out of Luis Enrique’s book, almost splitting the pitch in half between defence and attack.
Argentina’s back four were more conservative than usual, which was a decision implemented to close off France’s wide options.
Don’t get me wrong, there was a hint of Scaloni’s attacking full-backs tactic, but only slightly, because it was only used during sustained build-ups in which we’d see the likes of Tagliafico acting as a secondary winger just behind Angel Di Maria, and Molina almost in line with De Paul.
Lessons learned from Australia
When Argentina last played a 4-3-3 before going into this game, they struggled somewhat against Australia.
Believe it or not, it was due to a lack of balance between defence and attack, caused by this ideology of outnumbering the opposition in the final third.
Against the Aussies, Argentina were striving to consistently get six players in the final third, with gaps in the midfield of course present, as well as the second conundrum of options being too horizontal.
Against France, they learned from this by leaving four at the back, therefore giving licence for the midfielders to venture forward, with rotation between attack and midfield a constant theme.
Possession Ultimately Prevails
In the first half when France found themselves two goals down, having failed to muster a single shot, Argentina had 59% of the ball and had registered six shots.
Scaloni’s side were fully in control, with their possession of the ball limiting opportunities for France who’ve mainly relied on their counterattacking play to get goals.
It was certainly a game of two halves though in normal time, with France occupying more of the ball, registering six shots and getting two goals for their very late efforts.
The shared theme here is that both sides got their goals having had the Lion’s share of possession.
How France got back into it
In a literal sense, a clumsy challenge by Otamendi on Thuram generously gave France a way back in.
Mbappe just about buried it with Martinez getting something on it, but what followed was almost unbelievable.
Just one minute later, the unthinkable happened when Mbappe levelled the score
For extra context, Argentina hadn’t had a single shot on target up until the 80th minute.
But, if we’re looking more in depth at how France found a way back into the game, we have to look at their shape.
Deschamps’ masterclass
The shape of France throughout the entirety of the tournament has been a debate in itself.
Is it a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, or 4-4-2 base?
From what we saw against Argentina, we can only assume that it is a 4-2-3-1 native approach, and this is because of the 4-2-4 system that we shape that was a constant throughout the game.
Ultimately, each of the aforementioned shapes featured in the game, but with Deschamps taking off Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele, for Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani, this made for more of a 4-3-3 shape and ultimately saw the game take a twist.
The front-three were able to press with greater threat and ambition, ultimately restricting space for Argentina by matching them manfully.
The 4-4-2 out of possession shape was a constant throughout and sured up the side defensively.
With Deschamps doing all he could from the sidelines, the final touch came in the form of finding a way to lure Argentina out and accelerate the game to a speed which suited their counter-attacking approach.
And they did just that, with the likes of Kingsley Coman and Eduardo Camavinga serving as the respective Cherries on top.
Deschamps’ decision to bring on Camavinga for Hernandez is perhaps the biggest call of the game, with the midfielder-by-trade playing the role of an asymmetric attacking left-back with great poise and ambition.
Mbappe vs Messi
When the game went to extra time at 2-2 you knew that there was still a goal to go and it was always going to be a 50/50 split between PSG teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
When Lionel Messi scored his second of the game, we thought it was all over.
But in true Mbappe fashion, he was having none of it and became the second ever hat-trick hero in a World Cup Final at just 23-years-old - a real sign of what is to come in his career.
Ultimately though, the script went to plan, with Argentina and Lionel Messi prevailing in what makes for a phenomenal World Cup bow.
Is Lionel Messi now officially the greatest player of all time?