Paris Saint-Germain superstars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar all entered the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with high hopes of glory.
Neymar and Brazil were considered the favourites entering the competition, but instead he is left watching in frustration as his two teammates battle to win the World Cup. Messi's Argentina and Mbappe's France will face off in Sunday's final at the Lusail Stadium, meaning PSG are guaranteed to see one of their big names lift the trophy.
That is a prospect that was raised to Neymar moments after Brazil's exit from the competition at the hands of Croatia. Speaking shortly after losing on penalties, and being left in tears, Neymar was asked if he had thought about his two teammates and who could win the tournament.
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In response, he made it clear that he is not interested in whether either of them can achieve what he was unable to do. He is simply unable to see beyond his own personal disappointment.
"That's hard to talk [about] now," he said. "I was rooting for myself."
Whilst Neymar's World Cup turned into a disappointment, Messi spoke about how much he is enjoying his final tournament after Argentina's semi-final win.
“I am enjoying this World Cup a lot. I am feeling really good and strong enough to face anything,” Messi said.
“It wasn’t easy. We were tired but we found our strength to earn the victory. We finished the game in a very good way and I feel very happy now.
“This squad goes beyond the collective. It’s intelligent and clever. We can read games and we know how to suffer when necessary and what to do with the ball when it’s needed. We have played excellent technical football.
“We know what to do in every moment of the game. We know how to win. We knew we would have to run. We knew their strengths. We knew they would have possession.
“The first game when we lost to Saudi Arabia was hard for us because we had been unbeaten for so long. It was such a hard blow.
“To come back has proved how strong we are. It’s been difficult as every game has felt like a final. That’s been a heavy mental load. We have played and won five finals and I hope it’s the same in the last game. We were confident we would make it as we understand the fine details. We have grown a lot in this tournament.”
Speaking immediately after France beat Morocco to book their spot in the final, Rio Ferdinand highlighted the upcoming battle between Mbappe and Messi and reckons the "stars have aligned".
Ferdinand said on BBC : "When you look at this game, fairytale-wise you’d love Morocco to get through. But now you’re thinking about you’ve got two megastars - Messi, could be the handing of the baton to Mbappé if he produces, Mbappé - but there’s so many different subplots to a great game in itself.
"The stars are aligned for Messi. He hit 1000 games during this tournament. When the question is asked, who’s the greatest of all-time? Who’s the greatest - Maradona or Messi? He hasn’t won a World Cup, this could be the moment."
