Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The final four at this summer's World Cup features an unprecedented lineup of the top-ranked teams in FIFA.
- A potential semifinal upset could set the stage for a historic rematch that would echo one of the greatest finals ever played.
- One nation stands on the brink of achieving a feat last seen decades ago, while another eyes a rare streak of dominance.
We're now down to the final four at this summer's World Cup, with a quartet of heavyweights still dreaming of hoisting the trophy aloft in New Jersey on Sunday. It is the first time ever that the top four teams in the FIFA World Rankings have made up the final four, while it is only the third occasion that the semifinalists are all former winners — something that hasn't happened since Italia '90.
This bracket also raises the possibility of a rematch of the 2022 World Cup final. Three and a half years ago at Lusail Stadium in Qatar, France and Argentina played out arguably the most thrilling World Cup final in history. The match ended 3-3 after extra time, with Kylian Mbappé scoring a hat trick but ending up on the losing side after La Albiceleste prevailed 4-2 on penalties.
Now, could the pair meet again? Well, in the first of this summer's semifinals, Didier Deschamps' side take on Spain at Jerry World in Texas as slight favorites to advance. Just 24 hours later and 800 miles east at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the defending champions will meet fierce rivals England, a match that is essentially 50/50. Thus, it is certainly very plausible to imagine that it'll be Argentina and France lining up at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon for a 2022 rematch.
So, have back-to-back World Cup finals ever featured identical teams?
Back-to-back World Cup Final matchups
We've only ever gotten a repeat final once in World Cup history — and coincidentally enough, it also involved the Argentinians.
- 1986: Argentina 3-2 West Germany, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
- 1990: West Germany 1-0 Argentina, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Argentina beat West Germany in the final four decades ago, with captain Diego Maradona hoisting the trophy aloft at the Azteca after a five-goal thriller. Four summers later, the pair met again in Rome, this time producing an all-time not-classic. Following very little action, Andreas Brehme's late penalty secured victory for die Mannschaft at the Stadio Olimpico.
Were France and Argentina to meet in East Rutherford on Sunday, it would be only the third World Cup final matchup to have been repeated at any point throughout history.
World Cup Final matchups to occour more than once
- 1970 and 1994: Brazil vs. Italy (both victories for Brazil)
- 1986, 1990 and 2014: Germany vs. Argentina (Germany leads 2-1)
On an individual basis, both nations are chasing their own World Cup final records this week. France could become only the third team to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals, after West Germany (1982-1990) and Brazil (1994-2002). The latter prevailed at the Rose Bowl, then lost to France themselves in Paris before recapturing the trophy in Yokohama, with Deschamps hoping his team can achieve something similar.
If France manage to oust Spain in Arlington, they'll then be seeking to avoid losing in successive finals, something only the Netherlands ('74 and '78) and West Germany ('82 and '86) have ever endured to date.
On the flip side, Argentina are now three-time world champions but are dreaming of going back-to-back for the first time. Retaining the World Cup has been widely considered to be a nearly impossible sporting feat in the modern era, only previously achieved by Italy in 1938 and Pelé's Brazil in 1962. Well, wins over England and then Spain or France would see Lionel Messi's team do just that. Either way, both semifinals and the final itself will be blockbuster, irrespective of who makes it there.
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