Kylian Mbappé, the star player for France, and coach Didier Deschamps have a chance to make World Cup history.
Soccer history will be made for France when they take the field against Argentina and Lionel Messi in the tournament final on Sunday.
Les Bleus may become the first champion to win consecutive championships in 60 years, since Brazil did so in 1958 and 1962.
Since Pelé achieved that feat at age 21, Mbappé, 23, would become the player with the most World Cup victories at the youngest age.
Since Vittorio Pozzo did it with Italy in 1934 and 1938, Deschamps would be the first man to lead two world champion teams.
“As for me, I’m not the most important person. It’s the French team,” said Deschamps, who is worthy of his own chapter in World Cup history.
When France won the World Cup for the first time in 1998, he raised the trophy in Paris as the team’s captain. In 2018, he won it as a coach, and right now, he is in position to win a third.
“I’m obviously proud. After defeating Morocco in the semifinal match, Deschamps said, “I know, everyone knows we have the opportunity to win another championship.
In a span of seven tournaments, France has played in four finals, including the 2006 final, which it lost to Italy in a penalty shootout after Zinedine Zidane received a red card. It’s the first dynastic era since Brazil’s two decades of dominance from 1950 to 1970.
Starting in 1958, the team led by Pelé won all three finals it appeared in. The team also participated in the tournament’s pivotal final game, which Uruguay ultimately won in Rio de Janeiro.
After France and Mbappé ended his team’s historic run as the first African team in a semifinal, Morocco’s coach was quick to praise them.
Both players made impressive World Cup debuts as teenagers, and in the knockout stages, they really came into their own.
All six of Pelé’s goals for a 17-year-old in 1958 in Sweden came after the group stage, including a hat-trick in the semifinals to help defeat France while donning the No. 10 jersey he has made famous.
Mbappé made his World Cup debut at age 19, scoring twice in a 4-3 epic match against Argentina and Messi. A perfect final Sunday would be a rematch of that game in Russia.
Mbappé and Messi are tied for first place in the tournament’s scoring with five goals each so far in Qatar. In 2018, the Frenchman scored four goals.
Though in fewer games than Mbappé, it took Pelé until his fourth World Cup in 1970 to net his ninth goal of his career. The French No. 10 is primed to play a significant role in a second straight final on Sunday, which occurs two days before his 24th birthday.
The fact that France and Deschamps are coping with a long list of injuries with new talent who hadn’t even appeared in a World Cup qualifying game the previous season makes them even more impressive this time around.
Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, the midfielders who started the 2018 final against Croatia, were lost to injuries before the tournament, and Lucas Hernandez, the left-back, played just nine minutes in Qatar before sustaining a knee injury that would end his season.
Starting center-back Presnel Kimpembe and forwards Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku suffered injuries after the 26-man roster was chosen in November.
Deschamps promoted a group of players in their early 20s who have excelled and facilitated the transition to the following generation to replace them.
The 2-0 victory was secured by a goal from substitute forward Randal Kolo Muani and an outstanding performance from center back Ibrahima Konaté against Morocco.
The veteran teammates of the young players include Antoine Griezmann, the goal-scoring winger who has been transformed into an all-around midfielder. Griezmann, 31, should be a lock to be selected to any team competing in the tournament.
They should be surrounded by athletes who have a little more experience. The coach simplified his France project by saying that all it takes is playing freely.
With another contract extension pending and another trophy waiting on Sunday, Deschamps’ decade-long tenure as France’s manager appears certain to continue.
