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The French team had said on Sunday morning before the match that it would amount to a \"face-to-face\" competition between the four best strikers and top goal scorers in this year's World Cup.

\"PHOTO:
Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images
PHOTO: Fans of Argentina celebrate the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 win against France, Dec. 18, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
>

Mbappé and Messi had each scored five goals in the tournament, while France's Olivier Giroud and Argentina's Julián Álvarez had both scored four.

A win for France on Sunday would have placed the team in the rarified category of having won consecutive World Cups, a feat not accomplished since Brazil's back-to-back wins in 1958 and 1962. Mbappé was on the winning team four years ago.

\"PHOTO:
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
PHOTO: Argentina's Lionel Messi lifts the World Cup trophy alongside teammates as they celebrate after winning the World Cup, Dec. 18, 2022, in Lusail, Qatar.
>

Argentina hadn't taken home the World Cup trophy since 1986, when it toppled West Germany in Mexico. The team reached the finals in Brazil with Messi in 2014, but was beaten by Germany.

Messi said in October that the tournament in Qatar would be his last World Cup.

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