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Arsene Wenger has picked out two players who can shine in the 2022 World Cup final, and they are not Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappe.
While the Arsenal legend noted that both icons have a huge role to play in the game, he instead opted for two of their respective teammates when predicting who will have a say in the match.
Wenger picks duo to shine other than Mbappe or Messi
Wenger, FIFA’s head of global football development, explained that both Messi and Mbappe will be under huge pressure to deliver on the big stage. The attackers are joint-top of the goalscoring standings in Qatar with five each.
But ex-Arsenal manager Wenger believes that France striker Olivier Giroud and Argentina striker Julian Alvarez will also be key in Sunday’s match. The duo are just one goal behind Mbappe and Messi’s five.
Alvarez didn’t even start Argentina’s opener against Saudi Arabia, but has since become a regular in the team, having scored one goal in the group stages against Poland, one in the round of 16 win over Australia and a double in the semi-final win over Croatia.
Giroud meanwhile scored two in the opening game against Australia, and one each in the round of 16 and quarter-final wins over Poland and England respectively.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker was not even expected to start for his nation in Qatar until the injury to fellow forward Karim Benzema.
And Wenger says the two ‘influential’ attackers, who might not have expected to have such a key role, will indeed be hugely important in the highly-anticipated match.
“Of course, two players are under pressure to deliver a special thing in the final,” said Wenger, as reported by the Evening Standard.
“That is Mbappe on the French side and Messi, certainly more than ever, [is under pressure] to deliver something special for Argentina.
“Both teams show as well what the tournament can be. Two very influential and important players in both sides have been Giroud, who was not expected to be there at the start of the tournament, and on the other side Alvarez, who as well made his position during the tournament.
“Both of them have been very, very influential and will certainly have an important part to play, but they maybe didn’t expect at the start of the competition to play in there.”
Mbappe and Messi ready to light up final
As mentioned, both Mbappe and Messi have been enjoying phenomenal tournaments, and all eyes will undoubtedly be on the pair during Sunday’s match.
Messi has been shining all over the pitch for the South American side, with the forward now boasting 11 World Cup goals.
He has overtaken Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta in the all-time scoring list, with just Miroslav Klose, Ronaldo, Gerd Muller, Just Fontaine and Pele ahead of him in the leaderboard.
Mbappe meanwhile now has nine World Cup goals to his name, level with the likes of Eusebio, Paolo Rossi, Jairzinho and Roberto Baggio. The PSG icon, who won the FIFA Young Player Award in 2018, is just 23 years old.
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