Is Lionel Messi playing against France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final today? 

Lionel Messi is expected to start when Argentina take on France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday, December 18.

The reigning Copa America champions secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Croatia in the semifinals to book a place in the showpiece game.

Their captain played a key role in Argentina's safe passage to the World Cup final. The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward scored once and assisted another in their win against Croatia.

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni played an attacking duo of Messi and Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez in the semifinals. Alvarez netted a brace on that occasion.

Apart from any injury scares, Scaloni has no reason to change the attacking formula for the final. Alvarez should therefore partner his captain in attack.

The Argentina manager, however, does have other attacking options at his disposal, including Angel Di Maria, Lautaro Martinez and Paulo Dybala.

According to the Mirror, Messi missed Argentina's training session on Thursday. The forward, along with the rest of the starters against Croatia, was given an extra day off training to recover from the semifinals. At the time of writing, there are no injury issues surrounding the former FC Barcelona skipper.

Argentina, however, will face an in-form French side in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. The defending champions secured a 2-0 win over Morocco in the semifinals. They are now gunning to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to retain their World Cup title.

Messi will come up against his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe during the final. Both forwards are currently joint leaders in the race for the Golden Boot, having scored five goals reach. The Argentine, however, has also registered three assists while Mbappe has two.

France and Argentina faced one another in the Round of 16 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Didier Deschamps' side picked up a 4-3 victory on that occasion, with Mbappe scoring twice.

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Lionel Messi will be competing in his second FIFA World Cup final

The 2022 FIFA World Cup final could be the PSG forward's last chance of winning international football's biggest prize with Argentina. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner will be playing in the showpiece game for the second time in his career.

He previously led Argentina to the World Cup final back in 2014. The South American side, however, suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Germany on that occasion, with Mario Gotze scoring the winner in extra time.