Twenty-eight days have passed and 30 teams have fallen but now the World Cup final is upon us. Argentina take on France at Lusali Stadium in Qatar with the Jules Rimet trophy up for grabs. The headlines look set to be dominated by Lionel Messi, who can cap off a wonderful career with the one title that has avoided him and Kylian Mbappe, who can win his second World Cup at the age of just 23.
The two Paris Saint-Germain team-mates have been their country's respective talismans at the tournament, each scoring five goals. Messi was the star of the show in Argentina's semi-final clash with Croatia, opening the scoring from the penalty spot before setting up Julian Alvarez for the Copa America champions' third.
Mbappe struggled to make a significant impact in the previous two rounds after a superb display in the last-16 against Australia but opposition defenders focusing on Mbappe has allowed his team-mates to reap the rewards and guide France to a second consecutive World Cup final.
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The privilege of watching two of football's greatest players on the very highest stage is certainly great and a seat at Lusali Stadium would have been near-impossible to acquire for the average fan, but several of the world's biggest names are in attendance to watch the 2022 World Cup final.
American billionaire Elon Musk was seen entering the stadium while French president Emmanuel Macron was spotted in attendance with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The duo were also joined by a number of professional footballers including one star from France's 2018 win who looked unlikely to make it to Qatar.
Zlatan Ibrahimović and Paul Pogba were both seen in conversation with the two aforementioned Presidents. Pogba's domestic team Juventus were reportedly not keen on him flying out to the Middle East whilst nursing his injury, which saw him miss the 2022 World Cup., but the former Man United star was part of Macron's party to travel to Qatar.
Another injured French player Christopher Nkunku also travelled to Qatar for the final with his proposed pre-contract Chelsea transfer seemingly complete. Novak Djokovic and former UFC heavyweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov were two legends of their respective sports in attendance.
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