France national team boss Didier Deschamps has declared that Les Bleus will do everything within their power to end Lionel Messi's World Cup fairytale on Sunday evening.
Messi's Argentina are the team that await France in the final, with many neutrals rooting for an Argentine victory so that the 35-year-old forward can finally get his hands on football's most coveted trophy. However, as expected, Deschamps is desperate to make sure that is not the case come full-time at the Lusail Stadium.
The France boss discussed the idea of Argentina seeking their third World Cup and Messi after his first with BeIN Sport after the contest, adding: "We will do everything humanly possible for that not to happen. At the end of the match, someone is getting a 3rd star on their shirt."
La Albiceleste were the first of the two sides to book their place in the final on Tuesday evening, when Messi pulled the strings in an impressive 3-0 victory over Croatia. The game was a continuation of the apparent trend that after a disastrous start to the tournament, Argentina have seemingly grown stronger with each passing match.
That doesn't exactly bode well for France, who were hardly at their best during their 2-0 win over Morocco on Wednesday. An early goal from Theo Hernandez should have knocked the stuffing out of their African counterparts, but instead it appeared to spring them into life.
There were plenty of times during the second half that Deschamps' men were clinging on to their one goal lead, before Randal Kolo Muani came off the bench to tap home France's second and kill any momentum Morocco had managed to muster.
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Deschamps will be more aware than anyone that his players will have to put in a drastically improved performance for the sterner test of Argentina if they are to stand any chance of becoming the first team to retain a World Cup crown for more than five decades.
Standing in their way is a Messi who is operating like a man desperate to go out a champion.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner already confirmed that Sunday's final will be his last ever World Cup appearance.
"I am very happy for finishing my journey in World Cups in a final, to play the last game in a final. That is really very gratifying," Messi explained.
"Everything I lived in this World Cup has been emotional, seeing how much it has been enjoyed in Argentina. There are a lot of years from this year to the next one. I don't think I will be able to do that. To finish this way is brilliant.
"We are going to do our best, as we have done up until now, so that this time it really happens - we really win it."
