World Football

On Thursday, U.S. Soccer announced the candidates for its Player of the Year award.

For the women, the finalists are forwards Alex Morgan, Mallory Pugh and Sophia Smith and midfielders Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle. For the men, the finalists are forward Christian Pulisic, midfielder Tyler Adams, goalkeeper Matt Turner and defenders Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream.

Morgan, 33, has been nominated for the award seven times. Her past season was highlighted by an NWSL-leading 15 goals for the San Diego Wave.

Pugh, 24, is one of the USWNT's brightest young stars. She posted seven goals and seven assists for the team in the past year, to go along with 11 goals and six assists for the NWSL's Chicago Red Stars.

Smith, 22, led the USWNT this past season with 11 goals and was named the NWSL MVP after notching 14 goals. She was the youngest MVP in league history and helped lead Portland Thorns to a title.

Horan, 28, is the defending U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year award winner. She made 14 starts for the USWNT in the midfield and won the UEFA Women's Champions League with Olympique Lyon in club play.

Lavelle, 27, made 15 starts and 16 total appearances for the USWNT this past season, notching four goals and six assists. She also recorded five goals and an assist for the NWSL's Reign.

Pulisic, 24, has fallen in and out of favor at Chelsea but remains arguably the USMNT's most important and dynamic player. The three-time U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award winner tied for a team-high five goals and had a team-high three assists this past year, which included a goal and and two assists at the World Cup.

Adams, 23, is the keystone of the USMNT and was named captain for this year's World Cup. The steady midfielder earned two Man of the Match distinctions in Qatar and has been a regular fixture on the club level for Leeds in the Premier League.

Turner, 28, ascended to the first-choice goalkeeper at this year's World Cup and finished the year with seven clean sheets. He serves as Aaron Ramsdale's backup at Arsenal on the club side.

Ream, 35, serves as the captain for club side Fulham and played every minute for the USMNT in Qatar as one of the team's most reliable players.

Robinson, 25, is Ream's teammate at Fulham and has staked his claim as the USMNT's first-choice left-back. He made 13 total appearances in World Cup qualifying and started all four matches in Qatar.

Kylian Mbappé's France will go toe-to-toe with Lionel Messi's Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final after the defending World Champions beat Morocco 2-0 in Wednesday's hard-fought semi-final.

Flying left-back Theo Hernandez did brilliantly to give Didier Deschamps' side a fifth-minute lead, taking advantage of some uncharacteristically poor defending from the African side.

Morocco, undoubtedly the story of the tournament after a fairy tale run, had three injury worries heading into the tie. Key defenders Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saïss and Noussair Mazraoui were all struggling but named in the starting lineup.

Coach Walid Regragui's game plan was thrown out of the window before kick-off, though, as Aguerd was pulled moments before the game began. Saïss limped through 20 minutes before being subbed and Mazraoui was switched at halftime.

Morocco came out after the break in typically impressive fashion, forcing France into desperate defending on multiple occasions. Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi tormented goalscorer Hernandez down the French left flank, while midfielders Azzedine Ounahi and Sofyan Amrabat once again put in exceptional shifts.

France have a real knack of winning matches they don't dominate, though, as we saw in the quarter-final victory over England. Deschamps pushed Mbappé central after subbing Olivier Giroud for Marcus Thuram, a tactical switch that suddenly saw the tournament's joint-top scorer receiving more of the ball in dangerous areas.

This proved fatal to Morocco's chances just seconds after Deschamps brought on Randal Kolo Muani for Ousmane Dembélé. Mbappé's brilliant footwork ended with the ball trickling to Kolo Muani, who duly tapped it in for 2-0.

The result sets up a dream final for neutrals: Messi vs. Mbappé for the biggest prize in football. Twitter, understandably, was more than a little excited.

Mbappé has the opportunity to secure a second successive World Cup at age 23. Standing in his way is arguably the greatest player who has ever lived; one who is desperate to win the trophy for the first time.

Mbappé or Messi? Whatever your answer, do not miss it.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has a dream final.

Kylian Mbappé and France will try to defend their World Cup crown from 2018.

Argentina will try to earn the one thing missing on Lionel Messi's illustrious resume.

Sunday's final has everything you could ask for from star power to strong defenses to a recent history between the two sides.

France defeated Argentina 4-3 in the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in a game that featured Mbappé, Messi and plenty of others who will be on the field Sunday inside the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar.

Match Preview

Argentina and France have been two of the best sides in Qatar and are deserving of playing in the final.

Argentina cruised past Croatia in the semifinal round thanks to an early attacking onslaught led by Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez.

La Albiceleste have an extra day of rest compared to France and they played in a less stressful semifinal. Croatia did not produce much in the final third against the Argentinian defense.

The Argentina back line has been solid for most of the tournament. The South American side produced two clean sheets to recover from a humiliating loss to Saudi Arabia at the start of Group C.

Argentina defended well for long stretches of the knockout round. Its concession against Australia was an own goal and it held the Netherlands without many significant chances for 80 minutes. Croatia did not manage much in the final third on Tuesday.

Messi is the game-breaker in the Argentina attack, and he will be expected to shine again on Sunday, but the Argentinian defense could be the ultimate difference-maker.

France's back line has looked shaky for parts of the tournament. France was lucky not to concede in Wednesday's semifinal win over Morocco.

Before that clean sheet, France had not shut out an opponent in Qatar.

France has gotten away with the defensive mistakes because Mbappé, Olivier Giroud and Co. have scored multiple goals in every game the first team has started.

The concern for France comes in the form of the Argentina defense. Mbappé and Giroud could be limited by Nicolás Otamendi and Co.

Mbappé was not as dominant in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds as he was in his first three starts in Qatar.

Argentina can overload one side and commit an extra defender to Mbappé to take the 23-year-old out of the contest.

France still has other stars, like Antoine Griezmann, that can break apart Argentina, but losing some of Mbappé's chance creation could hurt Les Bleus. Griezmann is the only player with over 20 chances created in Qatar.

The attacking depth is as even as it could be. Each team has an in-form true striker in Giroud and Álvarez to support its superstar. The play of Messi, Mbappé, Giroud and Álvarez will determine the Golden Boot winner. Messi and Mbappé lead with five goals each, while Álvarez and Giroud have four goals.

If that even matchup translates to the field on Sunday, the defensive play will be the difference-maker, and that is where Argentina holds the edge for its performance over six games.