Image source, BBC Sport

For almost two minutes around the 70-minute mark in Tuesday's semi-final against Croatia, a barely mobile Lionel Messi stood on the side of the halfway line waiting for the ball.

Finally receiving it, he started running alongside centre-back Josko Gvardiol, getting closer to the edge of the box, before looking back and realising the 20-year-old defender was catching him.

As he neared the byeline, Messi turned and looked like he was going back, before turning again, accelerating and gaining those crucial metres that left Gvardiol in his wake. The cross to Julian Alvarez was with his right foot and the centre-forward became the beneficiary of another stroke of Messi genius to confirm Argentina's place in Sunday's World Cup final against France.

Making constant, correct choices is one of the key reasons Messi's career has reached heights nobody has ever got to - and why he rests so much during matches now.

At 35, he is, more than ever, a player of moments in a World Cup of moments. A man for the occasion.

As he orchestrated the Argentina fans from the centre of the pitch - just like he conducts play on it - you knew the size of the moment. The player who has won almost everything now has one last shot at the biggest prize of all.

Read more here.

Paul Pogba (centre) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (left) are in the house.

They are currently with French president Emmanuel Macron (second right, with his hands up).

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Macartney: This Argentina team will play for Argentina, and Messi. England put Mbappe in a box where he stayed for the game, not sure Argentina can do that.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Frank Leboeuf, 1998 World Cup winner, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "No, no, I am not nervous [about the final]. I'm fine, I've already won it. That's up to them!

"I'm excited to see the game of course because of the final and the Messi thing as well. It's like a destiny for him so I want to know if we can curse him a little bit. But I don't have any favourites, it's a very exciting game, exciting final and hopefully the better team will win and I'll be fine with that.

"I'm very happy with some players, Rabiot, Mbappe, Giroud, Griezmann is doing great and so is Lloris. Defensively we still have a lot of weaknesses and you never know what is going to happen before a game. So I don't feel that we can be strong as we used to be but I'm happy overall with the performances."

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Lusail Iconic Stadium

Image source, BBC Sport

The volume in here just went up a notch or two when the Argentina players emerged. They are currently warming up in the shape of a giant circle - it feels like Lionel Messi should be in the middle, but he isn't.

Meanwhile, over in Buenos Aires - where it is still morning - fans wearing Messi shirts are praying on the streets in front of a replica World Cup...

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at Lusail Stadium

Argentina's players have come out to warm up and thunderous roars sweep around Lusail Stadium. We have already heard them before when Lionel Messi's face flashed up on the big screens getting off the team bus.

Keeper Emi Martinez had been out for some time and looks in relaxed mood, acknowledging fans in the crowd.

Not long now.

Former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland also joined the Football News Show to discuss Emi Martinez and Hugo Llloris, the two players that will between the sticks later this afternoon.

Kirkland also says "this is the final the tournament deserved".

Have a watch below or watch the full Football News Show on BBC iPlayer.

Image source, Getty Images

Stewart52: It's not Messi against Mbappe. It's Argentina against France.

Julien Laurens
French football expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

For PSG, this is the dream final of course. They always wanted it to be one of Neymar and Messi against Kylian so they have got tehir wish. At teh beginning this is teh final that most people would ahev wanted.

We just don't know. I think if Leo wins it, the momentum will be so big that he can take that team and win the Champions League. If Kylian loses, he comes back to Paris bitterly disappointed but he will maybe have three more chances to win it. Maybe he will be hurt as well, it will be fascinating to see.

A lot of people who follow Paris will want to know how they are together after the final, whether they are talking to each other or sitting next to each other.

Tim Vickery
BBC Sport South American football expert

Scaloni fears France but he also thinks his side can cause them some problems.

i think there will be huge defensive responsibility on De Paul. He will have to help out and I think that's the way that they will try and contain Mbappe with a combination of Molina showing him down the line and De Paul stopping him coming in.

So it's a huge responsibility on De Paul. Molina is a full back, like Theo Hernandez who is better going forward than he is defending.

But he is quick so they have got pace there against Mbappe. If they show him down the line, they will trust that Molina can cope with him that way and De Paul will try and block the gate if he cuts in.

Julien Laurens
French football expert

The world really is at Kylian Mbappe's feet.

The 23-year-old will run out for France against Argentina on Sunday at Lusail Stadium with the chance of becoming the youngest player to win a second World Cup since Pele did so aged 21 in 1962.

He is joint leading scorer in the tournament - level on five goals with Sunday's rival Lionel Messi - and has already scored nine goals in World Cup matches, making him joint 15th highest scorer in the tournament history.

In fact, only one male player in French history has scored more World Cup goals - Just Fontaine, with 13 goals, all in 1958 - as the lightning quick Paris St-Germain striker threatens to break all records before him.

But to understand Mbappe's love for football, you need to go back all the way to the beginning...

Read more here.

France

French President Emmanuel Macron is back in Qatar for the second time in four days. He also witnessed his country's 2-0 semi-final win over Morocco on Wednesday. Will Macron prove a lucky charm against Argentina?

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Reuters

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Lusail Iconic Stadium

There are far fewer France fans here, but they still gave their players a noisy welcome when they emerged to warm up.

Image source, .

Playing for my club teams, I knew I had the opportunity to win several trophies every season. Every year was a new chance and a new challenge, but this was different.

The World Cup is only every four years and that is one of the reasons it is very special. I was 29 in 2014 and wasn't sure if I would make it to Russia four years later, so one of the other things I was thinking about was if I would have the chance to play this game ever again?

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Lusail Iconic Stadium

Image source, BBC Sport

The Argentina end is a sight to behold at the moment - a vast sea of blue and white spread over two huge tiers.

There are plenty of their fans all around the rest of the stadium too, and plenty who have travelled here from South America without tickets, happy to be outside if they win today.

Image source, .

"The World Cup is ending and there is a deafening silence on the future of migrant workers."

Ambet Yuson, general-secretary of Building and Woodworkers International, a global construction trade union who since 2016 has been working with Fifa and the Supreme Committee, features in the final World Football In Qatar podcast.

"For us there’s no legacy if the families of migrant workers who died are not compensated, if workers go unpaid by their employers their true wages or if they have not compensated their recruitment fees," he says.

Click here to go to the World Football in Qatar podcast page.

England did make it to the World Cup final...in the shape of a giant ball at the closing ceremony.

Image source, PA Media