WORLD CUP RECAP: All the latest news and updates ahead of epic final between Argentina and France... as Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 to clinch third place in Qatar
Follow Sportsmail's live blog for all the latest World Cup news and updates, as Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 to clinch third place in Qatar...while we build up to Sunday's final between Argentina and France.
Thanks for joining us today for all the latest news from the World Cup in Qatar!
Remember to join us for more live coverage tomorrow as Argentina and France come together for the World Cup final!
Well, there is now just ONE game left at the Qatar World Cup and that is tomorrow's final.
Argentina and France will battle it out to be world champions in what will be Lionel Messi's final dance.
Who will be crowned champions this time tomorrow?
Croatia have done it! They win the third place play-off to secure the bronze medal at the World Cup in Qatar.
Mislav Orsic's first-half curler is the difference. It's a goal worthy of winning any game.
Morocco have captured the world's hearts on their World Cup journey but they could not cause one more upset this afternoon.
Morocco are giving it everything and they have six minutes to find a goal to take this third place play-off to extra time.
They couldn't could they?
Croatia are getting closer and closer to winning the bronze medal at the World Cup - unless Morocco can find a late goal.
Things have just started to get a bit heated after Amallah goes into the book.
He goes up to win a header and looks to win the ball but Petkovic goes down. He is very unhappy with that decision and goes into the book after complaining to the referee.
There is a scuffle amongst the players, but it is quickly calmed down.
One of England’s stars of the World Cup has been injured after a brawl.
But coach Gareth Southgate needn’t worry as there is no police involvement with the incident only leaving Dave The Cat needing bandaging.
The cat adopted by the Three Lions at the World Cup hurt his paw in a catfight.
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Croatia are incensed - and quite rightly.
What seems like a stonewall penalty has not been given by the referee.
Goalscorer Gvardiol gets forward and into the Morocco box.
He was clearly kicked by Amrabat and goes down but the referee, nor VAR, have given a penalty.
Commentators are in disbelief that the penalty has not been given.
Patrice Evra believes Cristiano Ronaldo could retire from football after Portugal's World Cup journey ended in disappointment that saw the superstar fail to achieve his 'dream' of winning the tournament.
Evra revealed that he has spoken to Ronaldo since leaving United and told Sky Sports: 'I don't know [what he will do next]. Messi is saying he will retire [from the World Cup], but I don't know if Ronaldo will retire.
'Sometimes, when you are getting so much criticism, especially at the end of your career, you are like "OK, I think it's time to stop".
'That must be a feeling, especially when you are not in the starting XI of your national team, because that is what Cristiano wanted; to play, be fit and to win the World Cup with his country.
'This was his dream; now he doesn't have that dream. Although I won't talk for Cristiano, I wouldn't be surprised if he says he is retiring.
'Now everything Cristiano does he is a 'bad person', a 'bad player' or whatever. I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to retire.'
With just over 20 minutes to go, Croatia still lead Morocco 2-1 and are on their way to take the bronze medal at the World Cup.
The game has not been as explosive as it was in the first-half with several substitutions - four from Morocco and one from Croatia - disrupting the flow of the game.
Among those coming on for Morocco is Burnley's Anass Zaroury - who makes his first appearance at the World Cup.
Morocco are still on this but for now, Mislav Orsic's wonder strike separates the teams.
Declan Rice quickly put his World Cup disappointment behind him to attend his side's mid-season friendly against London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon.
The majority of England's World Cup stars returned to training this week, and although some - including Kieran Trippier and Nick Pope for Newcastle - were in action for their clubs in mid-season friendlies, Rice settled for a spot in the stands.
And the Hammers midfielder took to Instagram to share his view of the game with his followers on Saturday afternoon in west London.
'Good to be back watching the boys,' wrote the 23-year-old on Instagram, to the backdrop of Craven Cottage.
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Arsene Wenger believes that Sunday's World Cup final could be more about unlikely heroes Olivier Giroud and Julian Alvarez rather than headliners Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
Argentina and France will lock horns in Sunday's World Cup Final and it's been billed as the battle between Paris Saint-Germain heavyweights Messi and Mbappe, who have been the standout stars of the tournament.
However, former Arsenal boss has earmarked their strike partners as two possible players who could decide the fate of the tournament's showpiece.
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The FIFA president was spotted at the Khalifa International Stadium 24 hours after announcing his controversial plans for a 32-team Club World Cup to launch in 2025.
It's been met with serious backlash and it's understood Europe's top clubs have been blindsided by the launch and do not back it.
The World Cup has brought some thrilling encounters but it's also had its fair share of 0-0 draws.
Thankfully, today has been the former and the second-half will hopefully continue in the same vein.
Let's hope the Lionel Messi Kylian Mbappe showdown will also provide goals like this one. Still 2-1 Croatia.
The whistle blows and Croatia enter the break with their noses in front thanks to an absolute screamer from Mislav Orsic.
The winger curled in a delightful strike off the post to put Croatia in the driving seat.
His wonderful effort came after Gvardiol gave Croatia an early lead which was cancelled out by Achraf Dari.
Morocco will be concerned that Dari also went down injured at the half-time whistle.
What a hit son! The Dinamo Zagreb forward has only scored once for Croatia before but that is one of the goals of the tournament.
The ball is worked over to Orsic on the left but he has so much to do. Somehow, he is able to curl the ball perfectly towards the top right corner, giving Bono no chance as it comes off the post.
Lionel Messi, Argentina and all their fans... look away now.
Canadian rapper Drake has backed Messi and Argentina to defeat France in the final of the World Cup on Sunday but it might not be the show of support that the South Americans want.
The 'Drake curse' is fast becoming a phenomenon in sport, with numerous teams and athletes losing an upcoming sporting event after coming into contact with Drake.
A notable World Cup example was when the rapper posed with the star man of the Canada team, Alphonso Davies. Canada were tipped to be a surprise team in Qatar but lost all three games and crashed out at the group stage.
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You can follow live dedicated coverage of the third place play-off between Croatia and Morocco which has got off to a flyer!
It's 1-1 currently with both goals scored in the opening 10 minutes.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has insisted that tomorrow's World Cup final with France is 'much more than Lionel Messi against Kylian Mbappe'.
All of the eyes in the world will be on the star players to see who can lead their countries to glory in Qatar on Sunday.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the game, Scaloni addressed what it will take to stop France's star man.
He said: 'To stop Mbappe you need a collective effort. But France is more than just Mbappe. We need to focus on making a good game collectively.
'Sunday's game is much more than Lionel Messi against Mbappe, it's Argentina against France, it goes beyond that.'
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What a game we have on our hands here. The third place play-off often gets bad press but it's a real end to end game this.
Croatia took the lead with one of the best set piece moves we have seen in Qatar this tournament.
Gvardiol - who has been one of the best defenders in Qatar - sent his header flying past Bono. Very well deserved.
But the lead lasted just a matter of minutes with Achraf Dari heading home past Livakovic.
It's 1-1 here!
It's another set piece and another centre-back! The ball comes into the box, Modric inadvertently flicks the ball on and Dari has the simplest of tasks of heading home from inside the six-yard box.
Nine minutes in and we have two goals already.
Josko Gvardiol gives Croatia the lead in the 7th minute!
It's a brilliantly worked free-kick to put Croatia 1-0 up.
A Croatia free-kick is clipped over the top, Perisic knocks the ball back into the danger area and Gvardiol heads the ball into the corner.
Zinedine Zidane has reportedly declined an offer from the French Federation to watch the World Cup final in Qatar because he does not want to steal the limelight amid speculation he will replace Didier Deschamps in 2023.
The French legend, who won the tournament with Deschamps in 1998, will not be at the Lusail Stadium to see if France can claim their third World Cup.
It's believed Zidane does not want any of the focus to be on him at what is a hugely historic event where France could become only the third team ever to record successive World Cup wins, Mundo Deportivo reports.
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We are underway here at the Khalifa International Stadium. Both managers have rung the changes but there are still some big names involved - no bigger than Luka Modric.
Morocco have got off to a slightly sloppy start with goalkeeper Bono almost slicing the ball into his own net. Fortunately for the Sevilla keeper, it just missed the goal and went out for a corner.
The national anthems are done, the fireworks have exploded and we are just a couple of minutes away from kick-off here in the third place play-off.
Chelsea stars coming back from the World Cup have now joined up with their team-mates at Cobham.
Several stars including Kalidou Koulibaly, Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz were pictured in action at the club's Surrey training ground on Wednesday.
Graham Potter's side are preparing for the return of the Premier League season on Boxing Day.
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France have received a massive boost ahead of tomorrow's World Cup final as all of the players who have struggled with a virus have been cleared to return to training.
Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano missed the semi-final against Morocco, while Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate and Kingsley Coman have missed the last two days of training due to an outbreak within the camp.
French television network TF1, as per Get France Football, have now reported that all five players will train tonight on the eve of their clash with Argentina.
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The former Miss Croatia, who has regularly been in attendance, revealed to MailOnline this week that she has received dozens of marriage proposals and has sexy messages from some of the World Cup stars in Qatar.
The 26-year-old model, who has been garnering a staggering 200,000 Instagram followers each day, said she was shocked at the way some fans thought she was an ‘easy woman.’
She said some of the messages she received through her Instagram account had been invitations to ‘meet’ from footballers playing in the World Cup.
Ms Knoll is in the house once more today to watch Croatia vs Morocco.
Walid Regragui has also named a much-changed line-up, with Saiss, Aguerd, Mazraoui and Ounahi all missing out on the starting line-up.
Zlatko Dalic has decided to ring the changes for today's game.
Lovren, Juranovic, Sosa, Brozovic and Pasalic drop to the bench, with Stanisic, Majer, Livaja, Orsic and Sutalo coming into the starting line-up.
Kick off is approaching fast in what could be a historic game for African football.
Follow our live coverage below.
He was Argentina's hero in the quarter final and could play a huge part in Sunday's final, but Emiliano Martinez may face a quick turn around as Unai Emerai hopes to get his keeper back for the next round of Premier League games.
Aston Villa face a tough test against Liverpool on Boxing Day, and will hold talks with Martinez as to whether he will be available for the game, which comes just eight days after the biggest game of his career against France.
Read the full story below.
He was viewed as a cheap, rookie option when appointed in 2018, but Lionel Scaloni has proved to be astute manager in his time with Argentina.
The 44-year-old has already won a Copa America and has now taken his side to the brink of a first World Cup trophy for 36 years.
It has been quite a journey for a man who initially found fame among English fans for blowing the 2006 FA Cup final with West Ham.
Matty Cash has described the moment he felt like a fan as he come up against Lionel Messi during the World Cup in Qatar.
The pair met during the group stages of the competition, where Argentina defeated Poland 2-0 on their way to reaching the final of the tournament.
Talking as a guest on Sky Sports' Soccer Am, the 25-year-old expressed what it was like to face the Argentine number 10.
'I tried to get close! No, he stayed on the other side, which I was happy about. Messi is Messi, he's unbelievable.
'To see him, to play against him and to see him in real life next to you. He walked past me at half-time in the tunnel and I was looking at him thinking that's Messi - I'm like a little fan to him.'
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Scaloni adds: 'I saw many images of people celebrating or watching the game. We are not exempt from that, we are very excited.'
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has been speaking to the press ahead of the World Cup final tomorrow.
He said that 'the group is at its best'. Scaloni added: 'Our greatest triumph is that everyone feels part of it. That's essential.
'We have to enjoy these moments until the game starts. All this will remain in history.'
Didier Deschamps lashed out at a 'clumsy' reporter after becoming increasingly frustrated by questions surrounding the possible return of Karim Benzema to the French squad after the striker recovered from injury.
Speaking at a press conference in Doha, the France boss ruled Karim Benzema out of making a remarkable comeback to the French squad for the World Cup final on Sunday.
But when the France boss was further quizzed about Benzema playing or even watching in Qatar, Deschamps hit back and said: 'Are you spreading the word among foreign journalists? If I don't answer, you'll say I'm p***ed off.'
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The Villa goalkeeper says that Argentina are happy going into the World Cup final perceived as underdogs.
He said: 'We like it when they say that the other team is more favourites. We don't feel inferior to anyone.'
Emi Martinez has been speaking to the media ahead of Argentina's World Cup final against France tomorrow.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper said: 'It's crazy to be in the World [Cup] final. We started losing to Saudi Arabia, but we improved game by game.
'It was a difficult road but we said that we were not going to leave the country in bad condition, that we wanted to get to play in the World [Cup] final.'
Lionel Messi has been reunited with former team-mate and close friend Sergio Aguero, after the former Manchester City star joined the Argentina squad and is now rooming with the Argentine skipper.
Aguero, 34, was forced to retire from football in December 2021 due to a heart condition, but travelled to Qatar for the tournament and was on hand to present Messi with his Player of the Match trophy after the 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia.
The pair are now set to be able to spend some more quality time together after Argentine outlet TYC Sports reported that Aguero has become Messi's roommate in Argentina's hotel ahead of the tournament's final.
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We are now less than three hours away from more World Cup action as Croatia and Morocco collide for a bronze medal in Qatar.
Both teams were desperate to have a crack in tomorrow's final but fell short against Argentina and France respectively.
You can follow all the live dedicated coverage from Croatia vs Morocco from Sportsmail's Sam Brookes here:
Croatia and Morocco go head-to-head in the third place play-off at the World Cup this afternoon.
Both nations would have loved to have taken part in Sunday's final, but after defeats to Argentina and France respectively, they will take part in the match that no fan wants to see their countries take part in.
Find out everything from kick-off time, where to watch the match and head-to-head records here...
An incredible stat has emerged that there has been at least one Bayern Munich and Inter Milan player in a World Cup semi-final for the last 40 years.
In the West Germany vs Italy final of 1982, it was Paul Breitner and Gianpiero Marini for Bayern and Inter respectively.
More recently, at the Croatia vs France final in Russia four years ago, it was Inter's Ivan Perisic and Bayern's Corentin Tolisso.
And tomorrow, the streak continues with Inter's Lautaro Martinez representing Argentina and Bayern's Dayot Upamecano playing for France.
Check out the last 40 years of World Cup history below:
Gary Neville would 'love' to see Cristiano Ronaldo join another Premier League club following his dramatic exit from Manchester United.
There has been interest from Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr and the Qatar Stars League but his former United team-mate Neville would like to see Ronaldo playing at a higher level.
He told Sky Sports: 'I hope he finds happiness and a club that will get him into the team and getting him scoring the goals that we know he can score - he'll score 20 goals in 30 matches wherever he plays, maybe 20 goals in 20 matches, knowing him.
'But how does he see the end of his career playing out? Does he see the end of his career playing out in lesser leagues, or does he see it playing out at one of the major leagues and continuing at that level?
'I hope it's the latter, and I hope he can find a club in then major leagues, even the Premier League.
'I'd love him to stay in the Premier League at a club that can have him up front and we can watch him every week because that's what we want to see, we want to see him playing.'
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French centre-backs Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate have reportedly been cleared to return to the squad in a huge boost for the World Cup final.
Players are returning to action for France just at the right time after a virus outbreak that hit the squad ahead of tomorrow's World Cup final.
Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate and Kingsley Coman all missed training over Thursday and Friday as they also recovered from flu-like symptoms.
RMC Sport though have now reported that Varane and Konate are returning to training on Saturday - one day before they play Argentina - but Coman is still isolating.
Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano are also back in action, leaving Coman as the only potential doubt for Sunday's final.
READ HERE:
Two players have dominated the build-up to Sunday's World Cup final between France and Argentina.
Lionel Messi, at the age of 35, has the opportunity to cement his legacy as one of the greatest footballers of all time by claiming the one prize he has always coveted above all else.
Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, has the chance to win a second World Cup winners' medal and all by the age of 24.
One of the two Paris Saint-Germain team-mates will be bitterly disappointed come Sunday night.
In his Daily Mail column on Saturday, Graeme Souness argues that even if Mbappe wins another World Cup, he cannot ever hope to be in the same league as Messi when it comes to greatness.
And that is the main topic of discussion in Saturday's edition of World Cup Confidential as Ian Herbert and Chris Sutton debate whether Mbappe can achieve his full potential at PSG.
READ AND WATCH HERE:
France captain Hugo Lloris believes the 'adrenaline and excitement' of a World Cup final with Argentina will ensure all his team-mates are fit to play, despite illness affecting several members of the squad.
On the eve of the showpiece event in Qatar, Les Bleus have a number of players suffering with illness as they aim to retain their status as world champions.
'We are going to try and do our best in spite of the circumstances,' he said.
'I think thanks to the adrenaline and the excitement we will feel we will all be fit enough and ready to do whatever we can to win this last battle.
'In the past we have proved that French teams who have been successful have always based that success on a strong team spirit.
'So we try to draw from that, there is a very good feeling in the camp since the beginning of the tournament and there is no reason why that shouldn't be the same again tomorrow.'
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RB Leipzig and France star Christian Nkunku has signed for Chelsea in a £53m deal - starting from July next year.
The Leipzig forward has been in superb form so far this season, scoring 12 goals and adding two assists in just 15 Bundesliga games.
Sadly for Nkunku, he was ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar after picking up an injury when he collided with Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga in a training session.
Sunday sees Messi’s last World Cup match. There is no debating that now. Lionel Scaloni, his coach, attempted to buy him another four years by saying he could still be playing in 2026, but Messi was having none of that.
He will be 39 then. He will have noted what the desire to stay relevant did to the reputation of his great contemporary and rival Cristiano Ronaldo; maybe what it did to Maradona, too, failing a drugs test in 1994 because he needed a chemical cocktail just to get him up and around the pitch.
Either way, Messi goes out on a high. This has been his best, his most influential, World Cup. He has been one of its greatest players, even at 35.
He is central to its show reel. Even if Argentina are not a match for France this weekend, it will not reflect on Messi’s contribution to this World Cup.
Read more from Sportsmail's Martin Samuel here:
Croatia and Morocco will meet again in today's third place play-off. The two sides actually came up against each other in the group stages on November 23.
Morocco topped Group F and Croatia went through as runners-up.
Unfortunately, it was not the most exciting affair and the score finished 0-0 in what was the opening group game.
The African side were unfortunate not to walk away with three points as it was a lacklustre display from Croatia.
Let's hope for more goals this time around!
Luka Modric and Co missed the opportunity to play in back to back World Cup finals after they lost to Argentina 3-0 on Tuesday.
Croatia can hold their heads up high as a small nation who so often appear at the pinnacle of football.
The Croats finished second in their group - behind Morocco - after drawing with the Atlas Lions and Belgium either side of a thumping 4-1 victory over Canada.
They progressed through the last-16, dumping Japan out on penalties before knocking out favourites Brazil via the same method in the quarter-finals.
A World Cup final this year eluded Croatia, who came up short against Lionel Messi's brilliance on the day.
This afternoon, they face a Morocco side who will leave nothing out there. Who will come out on top?
Morocco have carried the weight of a continent on their magical World Cup journey in Qatar.
The minnows have achieved far more than anyone could have predicted - becoming the first ever African country to reach a World Cup semi-final.
After drawing their opener with Croatia 0-0, the north African giant-killers went on to defeat Belgium and Canada to secure a place in the last-16.
While many thought that Spain would soon end their journey in Qatar, Morocco continued to create history and sent Luis Enrique's men home after winning on penalties.
They then went one step further and booted Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal out at the quarter-final stage, leaving the former Manchester United star in tears.
Unfortunately, it would be world champions France who ended their World Cup dream, beating them 2-0 in the semi-finals.
Today, they will face Croatia in the third place play-off in hopes of a bronze medal to take back for Africa and the Arab world.
While you could not begrudge any football fan for switching their focus to the World Cup final tomorrow, we have the small matter of a third place play-off to contest with this afternoon.
Although it is often overlooked, Croatia and Morocco will give everything to take home a bronze medal from Qatar.
For Morocco, they could seal the best World Cup finish of any African or Arab country with a win over Croatia.
And for Croatia, we know how much they give each time they step on a football pitch. While they will no doubt be gutted that they could not emulate their semi-final win in 2018, finishing third at a World Cup is by no means an easy task.
All to play for!
It has not yet been announced whether Luka Modric will retire from international football after today's third place play-off.
The Real Madrid star is 37-years-old now and the prospect of another World Cup is almost impossible.
Before heading out to Qatar, Modric claimed that this World Cup would be his last tournament for the country.
But later on, he remained tight-lipped on any plans for retirement, insisting he was focused on the Nations League and the World Cup.
If he does retire, he can leave with his head held high after leading Croatia at another successful World Cup campaign.
Troy Deeney insists he knew Harry Kane would miss the second penalty that saw England crash out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage.
The Birmingham striker was one of the millions that watched as Kane got England back into the game against France with a trademark finish from the penalty spot.
Deeney, who has been a consistent penalty taker throughout his career, was convinced Kane would miss the second penalty when he saw him stepping up to take the kick.
Talking in his column in The Sun, Deeney said: 'I've been taking penalties for years and like anyone who's done the job regularly, I've missed a fair few.
'When I watched England's World Cup quarter-final defeat by France, I thought Kane looked laser-focused for that first penalty, even though there was a long delay and he chose to re-spot the ball.
'Of course, he hammered it home in trademark fashion.
But for the second, something wasn't right about his breathing and his eyes were everywhere. I wasn't surprised when he skied it.'
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Rio Ferdinand revealed that he tried to lure Luka Modric to Manchester United in the summer of 2012, before the Croatian legend ultimately joined Real Madrid for £30million from Tottenham.
The ex-United defender told his FIVE YouTube channel that he attempted to convince the club to sign Modric, only for the record Premier League winners to spend £17m on Shinji Kagawa instead.
Ferdinand said: 'I said, “Listen, you’ve got to come to United, man” and he said, "Yeah, listen, I want to be the first Croatian to play for Man United, I want to be that guy, can we make it happen?"
'But it didn’t happen. I spoke to David Gill and the manager [Sir Alex] at the time had already agreed with Shinji Kagawa I think it was – I think that was the year, I’m sure it was.'
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Didier Deschamps has ruled Karim Benzema out of making a remarkable comeback to the France squad for the World Cup final on Sunday.
The France forward has reportedly been furious with the way he has been treated and posted on Instagram yesterday: 'I'm not interested.'
But Deschamps has quelled any speculation of a return at a press conference in Doha today.
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It's the match-up everyone's looking forward to tomorrow, with Lionel Messi going up against Kylian Mbappe.
Both men have scored five goals in Qatar and look to be in a straight fight for the Golden Boot.
But Graeme Souness believes Messi is clearly the better player and that Mbappe's explosiveness will fade over time.
READ MORE BELOW...
Didier Deschamps says that his future will not depend on the World Cup final result on Sunday.
'To be the France manager has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am still as passionate about the role as I ever have been,' he said.
'The most important thing is the team. I am not the most important person here, it is all about the team.
'My future won't depend on tomorrow's result'.
Hugo Lloris was unable to provide an update on the virus outbreak that has hit the French camp ahead of the World Cup final.
Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate were the latest France players to catch a virus that is sweeping through the defending World Cup champions.
'I haven't got any more news since last night,' said Lloris.
'Everyone was still in their rooms this morning when I got up for breakfast so I haven't seen anyone. I'm sure you will get more information by our next training session.
'You are never really prepared for a virus. This was something we weren't necessarily prepared for but we remain focused and, of course, we're very excited about playing in a World Cup final.'
France boss Didier Deschamps has been speaking to the media ahead of the World Cup final tomorrow.
Of course, reporters were quick to question the French manager on whether he is debating whether to call back Karim Benzema to his side.
'I don't like talking about this,' Deschamps said.
'Since that injury and Theo Hernandez's injury in the first game, I've had 24 players and those are the players at my disposal.
'It isn't fair for me to talk about injured players. It is not up to me who comes to watch the game. My focus is on the 24-player squad I have and those will be the players at my disposal tomorrow.'
Sunday's World Cup final will be decided by a number of fascinating match-ups all over the pitch.
Plenty has been written about Kylian Mbappe vs Lionel Messi and the respective threats each superstar brings - and it will be down to Argentina and France's defences to keep the opposition's danger man quiet.
Sportsmail's Chris Sutton takes a look at three individual battles that could decide this weekend's heavyweight clash in Qatar.
Read more about Sunday's key battles between Griezmann and Fernandez, Mbappe and Molina and Tchouameni and Messi:
Ousmane Dembele hailed his former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi as 'exceptional' ahead of their reunion in Sunday's World Cup final between Argentina and France.
After Dembele left Borussia Dortmund for Barcelona in 2017, he played alongside Messi for four seasons at the Nou Camp.
The French winger - who made his move to Spain on a deal worth £136m - was full of praise for the Argentine captain, insisting that he 'gave me a lot' during their time together with the Spanish giants.
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Gary Neville has picked Lionel Messi as the World Cup's player of the tournament but snubbed Jude Bellingham in favour of Julian Alvarez as the best young star in Qatar.
The Sky Sports pundit has delivered his verdict on the 2022 World Cup ahead of Sunday's final between France and Argentina.
Neville in his Sky Sports column dished out who he believed starred and underachieved during the tournament, while also gave his opinion on whether Cristiano Ronaldo underachieved for Portugal.
Read his Qatar awards here:
Anthony Taylor has reportedly been barred from officiating in the World Cup final due to concerns over national bias.
Sunday's final, which will see Argentina facing France at the Lusail Stadium, will instead be refereed by Szymon Marciniak of Poland.
It comes after reports in the Times that English referees have been barred from officiating games featuring Argentina due to fears of agitating feeling around the Falkland Islands.
FIFA reportedly see neutrality among officials as a 'top priority', and it is is believed that Argentinian referees would also have been banned from England games.
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France will wear an all-blue kit during Sunday's World Cup final against Argentina, the same colours they wore during their epic 2018 World Cup final in Russia.
As both teams prepare to do battle, it seems France are having to drop their tricolour strip to ensure there are no clashes with Argentina's white shorts.
It'll be only the second time in this tournament that France have worn an all-blue strip, with Didier Deschamps side replacing their white shorts and red socks during their 1-0 Group stage defeat to Tunisia.
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England's World Cup squad received far fewer hateful messages than they were sent during last year's European Championship.
The Times have reported that there were 168 abusive social media posts - all of which were on Twitter - directed at players during the tournament in Qatar.
This compares to last year's European Championship, where there was around 3,000 alone in the hours after their penalty shootout loss to Italy in the final.
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Karim Benzema has extinguished any rumours that he could return to the French national side ahead of their crunch World Cup final match against Argentina on Sunday.
Sportsmail reported yesterday that the Real Madrid striker had become incensed with how Didier Deschamps had treated him, sending the 34-year-old home after he sustained a thigh injury during France's first training session in Doha.
The French forward has now overcome that problem and many rumours have been circulating that he could be recalled to help Les Bleus become only the third team in history to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
But Benzema has shot down those claims, posting a very unimpressed selfie on Instagram with a caption that reads: 'I'm not interested.'
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The Football Association will double-down on their efforts to keep Gareth Southgate amid reservations over homegrown alternatives, as optimism grows that the England boss will stay.
Southgate has admitted he is considering walking away following his side’s World Cup exit, with his future to be decided during talks with FA technical director John McDermott and chief executive Mark Bullingham at the start of 2023.
But according to well-placed sources, there is growing hope at the governing body that Southgate is ready to lead the team into their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign that begins with a trip to Italy in March.
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Croatia will face Morocco in today's third place play-off in what could be captain Luka Modric's final game for his country.
Here's all you need to know about the contest:
The third place play-off will kick-off at 3pm at the Khalifa International Stadium.
You can watch the match on BBC One with coverage starting at 2.30pm.
Alternatively, you can get live updates from Sportsmail as Morocco look to seal the best-ever finish for an African and Arab side at a World Cup.
Good morning and welcome to Sportsmail's live World Cup coverage. Throughout the day, we will bring you all the latest news and updates from Qatar.
As Lionel Messi's Argentina prepare to face world champions France in tomorrow's epic final, giant-killers Morocco play Croatia in the third place play-off today in what should be a mouthwatering clash.
We will also bring you all the latest Gareth Southgate news as the England boss continues to decide whether he will remain in charge of the Three Lions.
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