Messi vs Yamal: Argentina and Spain Set for the Final

Simon Carver

Welcome back everybody. I'm Simon Carver.

Billy Galligan - Author

And I'm Billy Galligan. And on Sunday, Lionel Messi plays in a World Cup final.

Simon Carver

Again.

Billy Galligan - Author

Again. At thirty-eight years old. Defending the title he won in Qatar. Against Spain. Against Lamine Yamal. In New York. If you'd written this as a script someone would have told you it was too far-fetched.

Simon Carver

Let's start with Spain because they have been the story of this tournament as much as anyone. Unbeaten. Clinical. Defensively extraordinary.

Billy Galligan - Author

One goal conceded in seven games. One. Unai Simón in goal has been virtually unbeatable — six clean sheets, the most any goalkeeper has managed at a single World Cup. He is the overwhelming favourite for the Golden Glove and frankly it would be a travesty if he didn't win it.

Simon Carver

Spain haven't just been defensively sound either — they've scored when it mattered. Oyarzabal with goals and penalties. Porro at the back post. Fabián Ruiz controlling midfield. And the super substitute Mikel Merino, who has scored decisive late winners against Portugal and Belgium.

Billy Galligan - Author

And then there's Yamal. Seventeen years old. Scored his first World Cup goal. Set up goals. Tormented defenders. Been denied by offside flags and goalkeepers when the football gods were feeling unkind. On Sunday he faces Messi — the man he has idolised his entire life — on the biggest stage of all.

Simon Carver

There's a photograph of Yamal as a toddler with Messi that went viral a few years ago. The baby in that photo plays against the man in that photo in a World Cup final on Sunday.

Billy Galligan - Author

Football. Genuinely. You could not make it up.

Simon Carver

And then Argentina. Who have been magnificent and infuriating in equal measure throughout this tournament.

Billy Galligan - Author

They lost to Saudi Arabia at the last World Cup and came back to win it. In this one they nearly lost to Cape Verde, came from two-nil down to beat Egypt, needed a late winner against England. They have consistently made it harder for themselves than it needed to be.

Simon Carver

And Messi has consistently been the one who finds the solution. Goal against Cape Verde. Goal and assist against Egypt. Assist for the winner against England. He is thirty-eight years old and he is still the difference.

Billy Galligan - Author

Emiliano Martínez in goal remains Argentina's big game goalkeeper — the man who has dragged them through difficult moments all tournament. He won't win the Golden Glove — Simón has that sewn up — but his importance to Argentina on Sunday cannot be overstated.

Simon Carver

The golden boot race is still alive too. Messi leads on nine goals — ahead of Mbappé on nine by virtue of more assists. Mbappé plays in the third-place play-off on Saturday. If he scores and Messi doesn't score in the final — or vice versa — it could go right to the wire.

Billy Galligan - Author

Kane, Bellingham and Dembélé are all on six and all play Saturday in the third-place game — but they'd need a remarkable haul to catch either Messi or Mbappé at this stage. Possible in theory, near impossible in practice.

Simon Carver

Which brings us to Saturday. The game nobody particularly wants to play — England versus France in the third-place play-off.

Billy Galligan - Author

And I say that with sympathy for both sets of players. Nobody goes to a World Cup dreaming of the bronze medal game. But there is still something to play for — pride, and that golden boot race.

Simon Carver

Deschamps' final game in charge of France. Kane potentially adding to his England record. Mbappé potentially catching Messi in the golden boot race. Bellingham looking to finish the tournament on a high.

Billy Galligan - Author

It might be the game nobody wanted but it has a few stories worth watching. And knowing England and France, it'll probably go to extra time and penalties just out of habit.

Simon Carver

And then Sunday. The final. New York New Jersey Stadium. Argentina versus Spain.

Billy Galligan - Author

The defending champions versus the most impressive team in the tournament. Messi versus Yamal. Experience versus youth. South America versus Europe.

Simon Carver

History tells us the final is often one of the less memorable games of the tournament. The stakes produce caution. The pressure produces mistakes.

Billy Galligan - Author

But this Argentina side doesn't do cautious. And this Spain side doesn't do mistakes. So something has to give.

Simon Carver

If Spain win it's their second World Cup — sixteen years after their first. Yamal becomes a world champion at seventeen. Merino, the super substitute, gets the medal his tournament has deserved. And Unai Simón almost certainly picks up the Golden Glove.

Billy Galligan - Author

And if Argentina win — if Messi lifts that trophy again — back-to-back World Cups. The first team since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 to do it. And Messi, at thirty-eight, going out on the very highest note imaginable.

Simon Carver

Fifty years of watching World Cups, Billy. How does this one feel going into a final?

Billy Galligan - Author

Like one of the best. Genuinely. From the first game with three red cards, to Cape Verde and Pico Lopes from Crumlin, to Algeria Austria three-three, to England ten men at the Azteca, to Norway beating Brazil, to Messi breaking every record in the book — this tournament has delivered something extraordinary almost every single day.

Simon Carver

And it ends on Sunday in New York.

Billy Galligan - Author

Messi versus Yamal. In New York. For the World Cup.

Simon Carver

We'll see you Saturday for the third-place play-off. And Sunday for the final itself.

Billy Galligan - Author

Don't go anywhere. The best is still to come.

Simon Carver

See you then.