The fear with World Cup finals (indeed, any big final) is that it is a cagey, dull affair. Well, I think we'd all take a repeat of the last time these two met, regardless of which way the seven-goal thriller goes.

Argentina certainly don't need reminding of the potency of Mbappe...

The closing ceremony is done and dusted. Time to focus on the actual football. The players are heading out for the warm-up. Starts to feel real now.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

It's not just Kylian Mbappe is it?

France's run to this World Cup final has seen the rejuvenation of Antoine Griezmann, who I think many had written off somewhat.

For a bit of insight into just what he is bringing to this French side, have a watch below...

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Lusail Iconic Stadium

Image source, BBC Sport

A kaleidoscope of colours, a load of fireworks and that is the end of the closing ceremony... we've got a football match happening here in less than an hour.

You've heard of elf on a shelf, now get ready for...

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Last one. I promise.

Andy Cryer
BBC Sport in Qatar

"Muchachos, ahora nos volvimo' a ilusionar."

It's the Argentina song that has gone viral back home.

The song - that mentions Messi and Maradona - has become so popular out here, even supporters from other nations have been singing it over the past few days.

Keep an ear out - it is going to be loud this afternoon.

The opening line in the new edition explicitly references Argentina's two biggest footballing icons: "I was born in Argentina, land of Diego and Lionel, of the kids from the Falkland Islands, whom I'll never forget."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Frank Leboeuf, 1998 World Cup winner, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "If we win the World Cup again, Didier Deschamps will have had a huge part in that success. In 2018 he worked very hard, was very demanding to the players and it's why they won the World Cup without being the best team.

"They won it because of the mentality that they had. In 2021 when they played the European Championship, I think he thought that he could let go a little bit and see with grown ups how it worked and it didn't work.

"So he went back to his principles and made sure that the team was working hard accorid ng to how he feels that he wants the team to play. I was sure when he was a player that he would become a very good coach one day because he knows football and he know what you have to do.

"He wasn't gifted but he was such a hard worker that now as a coach, he demands what he was demanding to himself when he was a football player."

ABINASH: The Messi vs Mbappe battle is unique and Interesting as it's a battle between the PROBABLE current and future GOATS of the game. It's those rare occasions where irrespective of the result, will witness the passage of the rit and mantle of the reigns.

Andy Cryer
BBC Sport in Qatar

There is a lot of talk on social media and around the media box of some metro stations in Doha struggling with the amount of people attempting to get to Lusail for this final.

Image source, .

There were two reasons why I couldn't sleep the night before I played for Argentina against Germany in the 2014 World Cup final in Rio.

Firstly because of my nerves - the kind of anxiety I had never had before - and secondly because of all the Brazilians who were letting off fireworks outside our hotel at 3am in the morning.

I did finally manage to get some sleep at some point, though, and when I woke up my first thought was 'today is the day'.

I had already played in hundreds of football matches by then, as a boy and as a man, but when you are about to play in a World Cup final you realise that it is very special, and it is going to be the biggest game of your life.

Waiting for the final this time brings back lots of memories from 2014, because it was a very long day before kick-off and all that was on my mind, either at the hotel or on the way to the stadium, was whether we were going to win.

Read more of Pablo Zabaleta's BBC Sport column here.

There's plenty going on at the closing ceremony...

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

You've heard of elf on a shelf, now get ready for...

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Pablo Zabaleta
Ex-Man City and Argentina defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

Incredible. Lots of credit to Lionel Scaloni. He's been doing an incredible job for Argentina. Sometimes all of the experience that he had as a football player is huge and he has been surrounded by a group of ex football players like Pablo Aimar, Walter Samuel and Roberto Ayala and all of them have been absolutely brilliant.

All of them can really inspire the Argentina players and sometimes a lack of experience at the top level but at the end of the day when you are coaching the national team, it is about picking the right players, making them feel happy playing for their country and that is what we have seen in the last three years.

Well done, so pleased and so happy for him, he won Copa America in 2021 and this could be a huge day as well for all of them.

Marcus Alves
BBC Sport

Lionel Scaloni had been retired for a year and was feeling an emptiness inside that was difficult to ignore. The former West Ham United full-back missed football so much that he was willing to ring Son Caliu, the amateur club next to his home on the island of Mallorca, to say he was available to work with their kids if they had a position for him.

And so he did, back in 2016. It was then, after a training session, he heard the news Lionel Messi had decided to quit playing for Argentina. He couldn't believe it and decided to tweet a picture of his former team-mate in that year's Copa America final with a desperate message.

"This image says it all… Don't go, Lio," he wrote.

Scaloni couldn't know back then, but six years on he's preparing for a World Cup final against France, having been able so far to bring out the best version of Messi for the South Americans and end a 28-year title drought by winning he 2021 Copa America in Brazil. It was the beginning of 'La Scaloneta', as the team has been nicknamed since then. The 44-year-old coach is now the country's most popular man.

Read more here.

Lionel Messi becomes the all-time record holder for most games played at the World Cup (26), overtaking Lothar Matthaus (25).

France's Hugo Lloris becomes the first goalkeeper to make 20 appearances at the World Cup.

You've heard of elf on a shelf, now get ready for...

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Lusail Iconic Stadium

Image source, BBC Sport

The sight of a commemorative plastic beaker does strange things to people ahead of a World Cup final - there are fans walking around outside the stadium with stacks of them already.

The actual World Cup is a slightly better prize to get your hands on, or course.