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Argentina and Spain will meet in Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final, with Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal facing off in a star-studded match that bridges football’s past, present and future.
FOX Sports soccer analysts Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimović reacted to Argentina’s comeback victory over England on Wednesday.
For Henry, Sunday’s final is about more than just Spain and Argentina, it’s a clash between one of the best the game has ever seen against one of the brightest young stars in the sport today.
“For me, what else do you want? European champion versus South American champion and world champion,” Henry said. “Lamine Yamal vs Lionel Messi. The future and this guy [Messi] is past, present and future and forever. I’m excited to see that.”
Lionel Messi has the chance to lead Argentina to back-to-back World Cup titles, while 19-year-old Yamal can bring Spain its first championship since 2010 and further cement himself as one of football’s brightest young stars in what feels like a passing-the-torch showdown.
The debate quickly turned to an even bigger question: Who will win the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain?
Henry declined to make a prediction, saying Messi’s history with Argentina and his legendary career at Barcelona made it too difficult to pick a side.
“I didn’t actually finish one,” Thierry said. “It’s because of that, Leo [Lionel Messi] represents in Spain. He played his whole career there and the fear that they could face someone stronger than any other human because of what they’ve seen so many times in their country.”
Ibrahimović shared Henry’s view but believes Spain have the tools to deal with Argentina because their style of play matches the defending champions.
“Spain handled France very well … I think they can handle Argentina,” Ibrahimović said. “They are going to play their possession. Argentina are not a counter-attacking team like the way they played today. They attacked but I believe Spain will do their thing.”
Ibrahimović believes Spain’s path to their first World Cup title in almost two decades will come down to patience. If they can stay composed and control the tempo, he believes Spain have what it takes to dominate Argentina and come away with the win.
“You’re going to challenge on the sides with Yamal and I believe that Argentina, if they don’t have patience, they will chase the ball and lose patience,” Ibrahimović said. “I believe that Spain will dominate that game.”
Continuing to break down the match, Henry pointed to Spain’s dominance in possession as one of its greatest strengths.
“Now you have these two competing cultures clashing in this final,” Henry said. “What we saw yesterday from Spain, in terms of possession, I don’t think that will necessarily change against a team like Argentina. Here tonight [Against England]they appeared.”
Argentina once again found a way, scoring twice in the closing minutes to complete another comeback victory over England. The question now is whether Messi and Argentina have enough left in the tank to take down a well-rounded Spanish team.
“Is this the night they took the last scoop? I don’t know,” Henry said. “Are you going to bet against them with a guy like Messi and with what this team is? There always seems to be a little bit of water in this Argentina well and it served them well.”
