FIFA World Cup 2022

Sunday's match in Lusail is almost certain to be Messi's last appearance in football's showpiece tournament and he is relishing the moment, according to the Argentina No. 23, reports Xinhua news agency. "I see Lionel Messi very happy," Martinez said. "He in great form on the pitch. He is playing very well and this gives so much energy to the whole squad because we have the greatest player.

In chasing a mammoth 189 at Brabourne Stadium, India needed 53 off the last 24 balls. Richa Ghosh and Devika Vaidya took 12 runs off the 17th over, but pace all-rounder Heather Graham gave away just three runs in the 18th over and took out Devika too. Richa hit two sixes and a boundary off Alana King's 19th over to bring the equation to 20 off the final over. Despite Deepti Sharma hitting two boundaries, Megan Schutt held her nerve to give away just 12 runs in the final over, handing Australia a seven-run victory and an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-game series.

It was Spain with the first pushback of the Final, after which both sides looked to control possession, with the home team winning an early PC. Indian Captain and Goalkeeper Savita made an excellent save before her team earned their first PC of the match. Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur went to the left side of the Spanish goalkeeper Clara Perez and managed to beat her to put India ahead in the first quarter.

"Our experience will help us. We have been observing and analysing Argentina's games and we've had some precise information but of course they could line up differently tomorrow. There is nothing to stop them doing that. We could too. The same goes for us. "Look at Morocco for example, they started the semi-final with a five-man defence, which they hadn't done before in the tournament. You need to be ready for any scenario."

"We are trying to manage this situation as well as we can and remain calm and focused. I'll get some more information today and I'll think about that tonight, and even tomorrow. We're looking forward to this important game," France coach Didier Deschamps told reporters on Saturday during the pre-match press conference.

Klinsmann said Messi is adored by different nationalities that have gathered in Qatar for the World Cup. The German was addressing a joint press conference along FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger, with both of them being part of the FIFA Technical Study Group of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Football fever is all set to hit a crescendo on Sunday when people from across the globe will have their eyes glued to their television screens to see whether Messi has the last hurrah, or Kylian Mbappe spoils his swan song in World Cup by helping France become only the second country after Brazil to defend the coveted title.

Morocco will stage the event from February 1-11 under the old format with seven teams: the winners of the Champions League from the six confederations of the ruling body FIFA, plus a team from the host nation. Morocco previously hosted the FIFA Club World Cup in 2013 and 2014.

Infantino was addressing the media in Doha on Friday following a FIFA Council meeting earlier in the day. "Here the groups of four have been absolutely incredible. Until the last minute of the last match you would not know who goes through," said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

"I don't really need to motivate my team, we are at the World Cup representing Morocco. We even want to win friendlies so the objective is to get that third place, we want to improve our FIFA ranking. If we finish third in a World Cup, we will really hike it up," Regragui said at the pre-match press conference.