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?

How Lionel Scaloni changed Argentina - World Cup 22'

Argentina have without a doubt been the most tactically improved team of the World Cup tournament...

The side endured a shaky start to say the least as they faltered in a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia.

But they soon kicked on and now find themselves in the final, in what could make for a fairytale narrative for Lionel Messi, who has confirmed that this will be his World Cup bow.

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Constant Tweaks

Right from the off, it is worth noting that Argentina have not set-up in the same way throughout the tournament, which has made them unpredictable.

Scaloni has changed formation for each of Argentina’s six games, switching from a 4-4-2 base, to a diamond, to a three-at-the-back system and even a 4-3-3.

In many ways it’s the perfect approach for a knockout tournament. But whilst the tactics have varied, the philosophy has always been the same.

Scaloni has built this side on the premise of being direct in their approach, and that has been a constant whether they’ve had the lion’s share of possession or not.

Changing of the guard

In the six games that Argentina have played, they’ve averaged just 58.2% of possession proceedings, which is around 7% less than what they averaged in the 2018 World Cup tournament that was led by Jorge Sampaoli.

What we’ve actually seen in this tournament is a changing of the guard to some extent.

At club level, where managers have more success in implementing their philosophy throughout the individual phases, we often find successful teams dominating in each phase.

Those sides usually have the lion’s share of possession, which usually doubles up as a game management tactic because the opposition obviously can’t score if they don’t have the ball.

But, hardly having the ball has been one of the biggest trends among the most successful teams across the tournament, with counter-attacking football fully back in fashion.

Three of the five highest-possession playing teams failed to even reach or surpass the round of 16, with second-and-third place England and Portugal faltering in the quarter-finals.

The point is, the highest-possession playing sides of the tournament are all out with none managing to progress to the semi-finals.

Whilst, some of the lower-possession playing sides like Morocco, France and Croatia managed to join Argentina in progressing to the latter stages of the tournament.

Argentina at their best

So playing into this, Scaloni’s side have been at their best in back and forth games.

By not having as much of the ball, they are able to make the game more open by allowing the opposition to progress.

We’ve seen this in the quarter-final game against the Netherlands as well as the 3-0 semi-final win against Croatia, in which Scaloni’s side had just 39% of the ball.

Out of possession

So, looking at the semi-final bout, Argentina poetically returned to the formation that they started the tournament with, which was the 4-4-2 system.

Argentina’s 4-4-2 Base

Off the ball, Scaloni’s side looked to draw the opposition with a mid-to-low-block method, sticking in their native 4-4-2 as the Croats came rushing forward.

4-4-2 mid-low-block

The Argentine’s drew the Croats out using this approach

Interestingly, there was an initial overloading press whenever Croatia entered the mid-third.

The midfield four were integral to sustaining this pressure, with Lionel Messi’s strike partner Julian Alvarez happy to join in with these defensive duties.

So, when Croatia would look to stretch play out on the flanks, an overload of three-to-four players would all press, with Alvarez acting as the trigger in most cases.

Argentina’s overloading press

The side would look to close down space immediately whenever the ball was played out-wide

If Croatia were successful in working the ball into the centre of the pitch, those players would quickly return and drop into a low-block, fluctuating between a 4-3-2-1 shape, but ultimately returning into a neat 4-4-2.

Meanwhile, the back four were happy to stay back, with the bank of four in front given licence to press aggressively, with spaces behind them astutely covered.

In-Possession

When Argentina had the ball, they would progress play as fast as possible.

On counter-attacks, the likes of Alvarez and Messi were key, with another initiators charging alongside them. The rest of the team would stay back, rather than running the risk of committing bodies forward to then be hit on the counter.

In more sustained attacks, there was a real system in place.

Building on from the full-back system that we saw against the Netherlands, Molina, and in this case, Tagliafico served as makeshift wingers.

Whenever Argentina worked the ball up, the fullbacks would act as wingers, sitting high and wide to stretch play.

It was a process that ensured there were five attackers in the front-line, which ultimately created space in the central areas, with Croatia spread.

Argentina in-possession

The full-backs were integral to Argentina’s overload in the final third

Whilst Messi was of course granted the ability to roam free in the final third, the likes of Enzo Fernandez, who is a defensive midfielder by trade, was happy to be the more offensive player in the pivot-duo with Leandro Paredes.

Conclusion

In both phases, Argentina were solid and always looked threatening on the attack.

Their adaptation of playing with a lower amount of possession is a style that works well and tricks the opposition into committing bodies.

In reality, Scaloni’s low-block is just a guise to draw out the opposition and allow his attackers to shine.

The World Cup final against France will certainly be an interesting one, with Deschamp’s side happy to see even less of the ball.

It should be fun, it should be end to end, it COULD be Lionel Messi’s time to shine.