As the semifinals of this edition of the FIFA World Cup have concluded, fans now know who will be playing in the final on Sunday. Trust me, this is a final that you won’t want to miss. Two amazing teams led by two amazing stars, one at the beginning of his career, and one close to the end of his career. But, these semifinals were supposed to be the big offense vs defense matches, and both matches were seemingly one sided.

Let’s take a deep dive into these two semis…

Argentina 3 – 0 Croatia

This match had all the making of being a close match with neither team able to beat the other one. Well… so we thought. Apart from the first 30 or so minutes it was utter dominance from the Argentines. Croatia, led by legendary midfielder Luka Modric, were on the ropes the whole time and with only 2 out of their 12 shots on target, they had a rough offensive night. On the other hand, when you look at Argentina, 7 out of their 9 shots were on target which meant that Croatia’s defense had their work cut out for them. Around the 32nd or so minute, Julián Álvarez of Argentina had a massive breakaway but was completely taken out by Croatia’s goalie, Dominik Livaković. When Argentina gets a penalty, who do you go to? The man, Lionel Messi. Messi buried the PK to give Argentina the lead heading into halftime. But wait! An amazing end to end run from Julián Álvarez gave Argentina their second goal in the 39th minute. Now Croatia faced an even bigger deficit and everything seemed to be going the way of Argentina. As the second half began, fans could see the excessive amount of Croatian shots from well outside the box. This is because at this point in the match, they were desperate for something, but nothing was working. To make matters worse for Croatia, Messi’s magic came out in full force in the 69th minute when he was able to dribble around practically the whole Croatian right side of the field. All Messi had to do was pass the ball to Julián Álvarez to score, and that is exactly what he did. Argentina was rolling and they continued to play relaxed until the final whistle blew which means that Argentina will have the opportunity to lift the World Cup for the first time since 1986. They will look to erase the pain of the 2014 final loss and cement their place in the history books. Lastly, I would like to thank Luka Modric for an outstanding career as a Croatian midfielder. He has carried this team to the highest points in the sport, and even though he lost in the 2018 final, he was able to help take Croatia to two World Cup semifinals, and he will be missed.

France 2 – 0 Morocco

The Cinderella dream ends for the lions of Morocco. A stunning showing at this edition of the World Cup only has fans wanting more from them in the future. Unfortunately, their luck at this tournament ran out as France was just too good at handling the important situations. Possession was dominated by Morocco, even a good 75 minutes were dominated by them. Morocco even dominated the passing accuracy rate. Eight total shots from them, and none of which were able to find the back of the net. This is partially because of the outstanding performance of Hugo Lloris in goal, who earned his first shutout of the tournament. After the goal in the 5th minute from Theo Hernández went in, Morocco was dominating play getting chance after chance. France did a fantastic job on the defensive end and were able to shut down the wave of Moroccan players. Moving to the 79th minute, 44 seconds after coming on as a substitute, Randal Kolo Muani scored France’s second goal with the help of some crafty ball handling from Kylian Mbappé. France utilized their big chances and that is why they will be in the final on Sunday. While the dream does end here for Morocco, not only did they inspire a country, but they inspired the whole Arab world, and the whole African continent. This team made history, and they deserve all the credit and glory that will come to them. Everyone should be proud of this Moroccan side for showing that anything is possible, and be sure to watch out for them in four years. Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi’s performance in this tournament was eye opening, and he should be in contention for some awards at the end of the tournament. For France, they are trying to do what no team has done since Brazil in 1962. That being winning back-to-back World Cups. Brazil came close, winning in 1994 and losing in 1998, but no team has been able to accomplish this feat since the 60’s. Can France do it?

While the semifinals provided much less drama than the quarterfinals, they still were the puzzle pieces that helped paint the picture of this incredible tournament. With only two games left in this World Cup, let’s preview them to see what is in store for this weekend. 

Saturday 9 A.M. Morocco vs Croatia, 3rd Place Game

While I will not spend a ton of time on this match, it is still significant for both sides. For Croatia, they will want to send out their hero, Luka Modric, with a bronze medal finish, which many thought wasn’t possible for this team at the beginning of the tournament. Croatia will get the group stage rematch with Morocco after drawing 0-0 with them. For Morocco, making more history still isn’t off the table for them. If they are able to defeat Croatia, they will be the first ever African nation to make the “podium” of a World Cup. A bronze medal finish would be absolutely historic for them and they have looked like the better team all tournament compared to Croatia. Achraf Hakimi will look to lead his team to a medal finish, and I think they will do exactly that. My prediction for this match is either a 1-0 or a 2-1 win for Morocco. I’m not decisive on the score prediction, but I definitely have Morocco winning this match.

Sunday 9 A.M. Argentina vs France, The Final

This is it. This is the match the whole world has been waiting for, the World Cup final. Ugh, I just get goosebumps typing that. We are just days away from finding out who the best team in the world is. It’s going to be a Messi vs Kylian Mbappé showdown and we are all here for it. These two club teammates will look to lead their teams to absolute glory on the world’s biggest stage. With attendance expected to be at full capacity, which is over 88,000, the crowd will most likely be pro-Argentina as most games have been. Don’t underestimate the power of the French fans. Lusail Stadium will be rocking on Sunday, and I can’t wait to see it. This final is one that many predicted at the start of the tournament, but early on it looked a little more unlikely. 

Before I wrap this up, let’s take a look at how these teams got here…

Argentina:

This team started the tournament with an unthinkable upset, losing to Saudi Arabia in the opener. However, that loss seemed to flip a switch in the heads of the Argentine players as each game since has essentially been an elimination game, all of which they have won. They defeated Mexico by two goals and Poland as well. They won their group, and we’re heading into the knockout stage with high hopes. They beat Australia in a nervy clash in the round of 16, and went on to beat the Netherlands in an all time classic in the quarterfinals in a penalty shootout. They crushed the Croatians in the semis to book their place in the final where they will face…

France:

The French have looked very good all tournament with all offensive players showing just how good they are at scoring. France started their tournament with a commanding win over Australia, and then a much closer win over Denmark. France suffered an odd and unusual loss to Tunisia to end the group stage, but they had still won it. The knockout stage would prove to be fairly easy for them as they had a comfortable win over Poland in the round of 16. Yes, they had a very nervy win over England in the quarterfinals where their defense looked so sloppy. Yet, they were able to get a good two goal win over Morocco in the semis to meet Argentina in the finals. 

With only two games left, I am extremely sad as writing these have been an absolute joy to do. However, as a sports fan, I cannot wait for the weekend to see these last two matches take place. This wonderful 29 days of the World Cup is almost at its end, and we will miss it so very much. I will say, don’t forget that in less than 215 days, the United States Women’s National Team will look to win their third, yes you read that right, third Women’s World Cup in a row as they play in Australia and New Zealand. But that’s next year. I am ready for these last few games, and if you are too, make sure to click the tag at the bottom of this article to see previous World Cup articles, and be on the lookout in the next few days for a finals and whole tournament recap.