<\/p>\n
Spain meets Argentina in a historic World Cup final on Sunday which sees the reigning champions of Europe and South America battle for football\u2019s ultimate prize.<\/p>\n
Holders Argentina are bidding to become the first team in 64 years to successfully defend the title, in what is almost certainly the final World Cup match of captain Lionel Messi\u2019s career<\/a>.<\/p>\n \ufeffTszyu v Spence Jr. | Sunday July 26 from 11am AEST | Tim Tszyu takes on the biggest name in his career so far – future hall-of-famer Errol Spence Jr, in a can\u2019t miss event for boxing fans around the world. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Spain are aiming to thwart those ambitions by clinching the country\u2019s second World Cup crown following their maiden victory in 2010.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump will be among a star-studded crowd of just over 80,000 spectators at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey as the largest World Cup in history reaches its climax.<\/p>\n World Cup officials have said they are \u201cmonitoring closely\u201d air quality from Canadian wildfires affecting the region around the final, which kicks off at 5am AEST on Monday morning.<\/p>\n Here are the biggest talking points ahead of the World Cup final!<\/i><\/p>\n Air quality concern ahead of WC Final | 05:07<\/p>\n ARGENTINA\u2019S CONTROVERSIAL RUN TO THE FINAL<\/b><\/p>\n The narrative that just will not go away this World Cup has been the conspiracy theory that FIFA favoured Argentina<\/a> to ensure they reached the final.<\/p>\n There were accusations of the reigning champions being handed an easier draw given they met Cabo Verde, Egypt and Switzerland in the knockout stages before meeting England in the semi-final.<\/p>\n That was easily explained by FIFA introducing seedings to guarantee that the top four ranked nations could not meet each other until the final four as long as they topped their groups, which Argentina, Spain, England and France all did.<\/p>\n The quality of their earlier opponents was also determined by upsets.<\/p>\n Cabo Verde were given a one per cent chance of finishing second in their group, while Egypt enjoyed their best ever World Cup campaign.<\/p>\n Switzerland got to the quarter-finals after overcoming Colombia on penalties.<\/p>\n But the accusation that grew loudest was Argentina being aided by the referees and VAR.<\/p>\n The murmurs began when Lionel Messi was not sent off for a careless challenge in their opening game against Algeria when VAR has stepped in on other occasions to give offenders their marching orders.<\/p>\n They then exploded after the Egypt game when the North Africans had a goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up during a wild game in which Argentina came from 2-0 down to win in regulation time. <\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,\u201d Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said after the game.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/b><\/p>\n WC Daily \u2014 Trump joins England boss pile on with golf buddy claim; WC officials monitor big issue<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018Insane\u2019: Crazy story of how Aussie Sunday league team went viral… and even Kewell loves them<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018Never his fault\u2019: England boss\u2019 \u2018cunning\u2019 act sparks outrage as \u2018toxic\u2019 blame game ERUPTS<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Ziko: World Cup is RIGGED! | 00:24<\/p>\n Hassan\u2019s claim outraged FIFA\u2019s refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina.<\/p>\n \u201cConstructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport,\u201d the Italian said. <\/p>\n \u201cNobody can claim that FIFA refereeing can be influenced by \u2060anyone, not even by the FIFA president.\u201d<\/p>\n Collina\u2019s comments eluded to Gianni Infantino\u2019s involvement in the tournament.<\/p>\n The FIFA president gave US President Donald Trump his wish in ensuring Folarin Balogun\u2019s red card was overturned, making the USA striker free to play in the co-host\u2019s 4-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium.<\/p>\n While Infantino has also been ridiculed online for appearing to be supporting Argentina at their games.<\/p>\n He has a history of bending the rules to suit Messi with his Inter Miami added to last year\u2019s expanded Club World Cup despite not being the MLS champions.<\/p>\n The accusations reached boiling point again in the first half of the win against England with Enzo Fernandez, who went on to score an 85th minute equaliser, not being booked for crashing into back of England midfielder Elliot Anderson and collecting the back of his head in the process.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe this is a situation, maybe it\u2019s not as brutal, but maybe any other nation it would be looked at by VAR,\u201d former Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng said on SBS.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I see Argentina is favoured by the referees.\u201d<\/p>\n Such suggestions anger the Argentines, who say their run of incredible comebacks has not received any external assistance.<\/p>\n Cabo Verde took them to extra-time.<\/p>\n They were two goals down against Egypt.<\/p>\n They were level with Switzerland when Breel Embolo was sent off in a case of mistaken identity when he was given a second yellow for simulation.<\/p>\n Argentina then broke down the ten men Swiss in extra-time.<\/p>\n And of course they trailed England until the 85th minute. <\/p>\n Switzerland’s Embolo sent off for dive | 00:22<\/p>\n Messi asked about such questions of the legitimacy of his team\u2019s escape acts after the semi-final victory.<\/p>\n The legend was having none of it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy what we have achieved\u2026 this can make someone sad, they can say whatever they want,\u201d Messi told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cThis group shows no one is giving us anything for free.\u201d<\/p>\n His manager Lionel Scaloni shared the same view.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, people have been saying those kinds of things about Argentina for a very long time,\u201d he said. \u201cSocial media magnifies everything. That\u2019s where the debates begin. But there hasn\u2019t been any favouritism.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, Scaloni puts down their success to an elite mentality.<\/p>\n \u201cThis group is difficult to explain,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a show of the collectiveness, the brotherhood that we are in, the willingness to fight to the very end.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the guys. They fear nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Argentina STUN England with late goals | 02:54<\/p>\n WHAT\u2019S GOING ON WITH THE HALF-TIME SHOW?<\/b><\/p>\n Another thing that has had football fans up in arms this World Cup is reports FIFA will introduce of a 30-minute half-time break for the final to accommodate a Super Bowl-style half-time show. <\/p>\n FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the performance from the likes of Justin Bieber, Madonna and Shakira, and is being curated by Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin, will be \u201cdefinitely the biggest stage ever\u201d, with \u201ca couple of billion\u201d people expected to watch.<\/p>\n The show will go for 11 minutes with the half an hour break to also accommodate 15 minutes of analysis by the broadcasters.<\/p>\n In doing so, FIFA are breaking their own laws, which state that a half-time break cannot be longer than 15 minutes.<\/p>\n But they showed their hand during last year\u2019s Club World Cup final at the same venue by having a 25-minute break to stage a half-time show.<\/p>\n Doubt still surrounds the length of the break with new reports emerging over the weekend saying the show will still be 11 minutes but the interval will only be 17 minutes.<\/p>\n Regardless, it has been incredibly unpopular with football purists.<\/p>\n There will also be a closing ceremony 90 minutes before kick off to give a double dose of entertainment.<\/p>\n \u201cFIFA appears to be on a mission to Americanise football into soccer,\u201d The Telegraph\u2019s Jason Burt wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe headliners are, and always should be, out on the pitch wearing shirts, shorts, socks and football boots and kicking a ball with the aim of scoring a goal.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is it. That is all that matters. If it was not the case, football would not be so popular. The rest is greed with football in danger of eating itself.\u201d<\/p>\n While football journalist Seb Stafford-Bloor took to social media to raise concerns about the impact such a lengthy pause will have on performance. <\/p>\n \u201cA 30 minute half time show is obviously nonsense for all sorts of conditioning and legislative reasons, but in plain terms it\u2019s yet another instance of the football coming second,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Not everyone is against the idea, however, with industry leaders backing FIFA\u2019s big call.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people complaining are missing the point,\u201d Michael Gietzen, CEO of events and PR firm Identity, told The Independent.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball has its own rhythm and its own rules and of course that matters. But a World Cup final isn\u2019t \u2018most of the time.\u2019 It happens once every four years, in front of the biggest audience any single sporting event can pull. Treating it like a normal weekend fixture is the mistake, not the half-time show. <\/p>\n \u201cA good half-time show isn\u2019t a distraction from the football. It\u2019s part of the reason people remember exactly where they were when they watched it. A few extra minutes to get that right isn\u2019t a compromise, it\u2019s FIFA recognising that the final is a cultural event as much as a sporting one. <\/p>\n \u201cPurists may call that a dilution. I\u2019d call it FIFA catching up to what a decent proportion of audiences have wanted for years. A final like this comes round once every four years. Play it safe and you waste the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/b><\/p>\n \ufeffWC Daily \u2014 Aussie hero set for big Europe move; Socceroo\u2019s surgery reveals stunning bravery<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \ufeffBombshell dressing room reveal after World Cup blunder as Eng coach makes weak \u2018DNA\u2019 claim<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \ufeffPoms\u2019 act of \u2018cowardice\u2019 exposed a pre-World Cup lie… proving \u2018nothing has changed\u2019<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n France STUNNED by supreme Spain | 02:20<\/p>\n MESSI\u2019S BATTLE WITH HEIR TO THRONE<\/b><\/p>\n On the pitch, the star attraction is going to be the battle between Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal.<\/p>\n Barcelona\u2019s greatest ever player bizarrely gave the Catalan giants\u2019 new star boy a bath nearly two decades ago.<\/p>\n The odds of them then meeting in a World Cup final had to be slim.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Yamal\u2019s teammate Mikel Merino said. \u201cThe first time I saw it, I thought it was AI. It\u2019s funny how life works sometimes. You have these situations you think is scripted by someone. But it\u2019s just how life works, the coincidences of life.\u201d<\/p>\n Anyway, here we are with a battle of generations to play out in New Jersey.<\/p>\n There are two years between the pair with 39-year-old Messi becoming the oldest outfield player to ever play in a World Cup final.<\/p>\n While Yamal, who turned 19 earlier this week, is looking to follow in the footsteps of Pele, Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe being become a world champion as a teenager.<\/p>\n Their respective performances on Monday morning could also decided the game\u2019s biggest individual honour.<\/p>\n \u201cThe World Cup is the decisive point for the Ballon d\u2019Or,\u201d former Spain midfielder Gaizka Mendieta told goal.com. <\/p>\n \u201cFor the same reasons Harry Kane might have secured it, Lamine Yamal could still do so. He had an amazing season despite injuries and was very important for Barcelona. He remains vital for Spain.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Spain wins, we must look at their squad for candidates. Mikel Oyarzabal is another fantastic player people have discovered. If Argentina win, Messi will win it.\u201d<\/p>\n