French forwards foresee final fireworks

FIFA has been hearing from Randal Kolo Mouani and Ousmane Dembele ahead of the FIFA World Cup final.

FIFA

  • Randal Kolo Mouani and Ousmane Dembele have been speaking to FIFA ahead of the Qatar 2022 final

  • Both had high praise for opponents Argentina and expect a great contest

  • The Bleus forwards are drawing confidence from their positive attacking displays thus far

    With Mbappe and Messi headlining a fixture that produced seven goals the last time these heavyweights traded blows, Argentina-France should be a FIFA World Cup™ final to savour.

    And just as fans and neutrals are excited about the prospects for Lusail thrills, so too, it seems, are the players.

    As Randal Kolo Mouani, France’s semi-final goal hero, told FIFA: “I think with all our qualities and strengths, it’s going to be a great match,

    “Obviously it’s going to be a tough. They are a formidable team who play with intensity. To be frank, every Argentinian player is a force to be reckoned with – and then there’s Leo Messi.

    “We just have to be ready at the right time. We’ll need to be focused and use all our team’s strong points.”


    Ousmane Dembele, another of Les Bleus’ exciting young attackers, shares this respect for their final opponents, describing Lionel Scaloni’s Albiceleste as a “very, very good team – a really strong group”.

    He is confident, nonetheless, that the holders have the quality and mentality needed to rise to a formidable final challenge.

    “To be honest I think we’ve had a great tournament,” the Barcelona winger enthused. “The whole team has been focused the whole time.

    “When we had difficult moments or tough matches, like in our knockout games, we dug in. And I think we deserve to be in the World Cup final.”

    Kolo Muani concurs, and sees France’s free-scoring attack – with Les Bleus leading the tournament scoring charts on 13 goals – as a major reason for believing in their chances of retaining the title.

    “We’ve got lots of qualities in terms of striking power and speed, and also in terms of Olivier [Giroud]’s strength, which binds us all together,” he said. “I think we can play well on many fronts. And it will be a pleasure to play great quality football on Sunday.”