Argentina vs France live stream and match preview, Sunday December 18, 3pm GMT
Argentina vs France live stream and match preview
Looking for an Argentina vs France live stream? We've got you covered. Argentina vs France is free on BBC One/BBC iPlayer and ITV1/ITV Hub in the UK. Brit abroad? Use a VPN to watch World Cup 2022 free from anywhere.
Despite losing their opening game to Saudi Arabia, Argentina have reached the World Cup final thanks to victories over Mexico, Poland, Australia, the Netherlands and Croatia.
France finished top of their group thanks to victories over Australia and Denmark, after which they dispatched Poland, England and Morocco.
Both nations are now looking to lift the World Cup trophy for a third time.
Kick-off is at 3pm GMT. Make sure you know how to watch World Cup 2022 wherever you are.
Team news
Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel, two of the full-backs in the Argentina squad, are available again after suspension.
Papu Gomez and Angel Di Maria will have to make do with places on the bench after injury.
Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano were not in the France squad for the Morocco game, but both players have recovered from illness. However, Ibrahima Konate could keep his place at centre-back ahead of Upamecano.
Initially, it seemed as if France would be hit hard by illness within the squad, but a full compliment of players trained ahead of the final.
Line-ups
Argentina (4-4-1-1)
Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; Di Maria, Fernandez, De Paul, Mac Allister; Messi; Alvarez
France (4-2-3-1)
Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, Hernandez; Rabiot, Tchouameni; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud
Form
Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in a confident performance in the semi-finals. Julian Alvarez notched a brace for the Albiceleste, with his second goal brilliantly set up by Lionel Messi.
France ran out 2-0 winners over Morocco on Wednesday. Theo Hernandez gave the defending champions an early lead, before Randal Kolo Muani doubled their lead late on.
Referee
Szymon Marciniak of Poland will be the referee for Argentina vs France. You can find out more about the World Cup 2022 referees here.
Stadium
Argentina vs France will be played at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail. Take a look at all of the World Cup 2022 stadiums and see how it ranks.
Players to watch / key battles
Messi has been thriving alongside Alvarez in recent games, and the 35-year-old will again be given the freedom to drop deep into pockets of space between the lines.
France will be content to cede possession before attempting to launch quick counters down the flanks, with Kylian Mbappe their main outlet.
Read more about the Argentina and France full World Cup 2022 squads.
Kick-off and channel
Argentina vs France kick-off is at 3pm GMT on Sunday 18 December in the UK. The game is free to watch on BBC One/BBC iPlayer and ITV1/ITV Hub.
In the US, kick-off time is 10am ET / 8am PT. The match will be shown on FOX/FS1 in the US. See below for international broadcast options.
VPN guide
Use a VPN to watch World Cup 2022 football from outside your country
If you’re out of the country for the World Cup 2022, then you won't be able to watch on your domestic streaming service as usual. The broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address (boo!) and blocks you from watching it. You can use a VPN to get around that, though, without resorting to illegal feeds you’ve found on Reddit.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN), assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and will let you watch. And all the info going between is entirely encrypted, anonymous and safe – and that's a result.
There are plenty of good-value options out there. For the World Cup 2022, FourFourTwo currently recommends:
International World Cup 2022 TV rights
UK
All of the games in the UK are either on the BBC or ITV.
- BBC iPlayer (free)
- ITVX (free)
USA
Fox are the World Cup rights holders in the States. Games are on Fox or FS1 cable channels.
If you don't have cable, you can use services such Sling and FuboTV to get the Fox channels. You can also watch the games on Peacock TV with Spanish commentary.
- Sling Blue ($20 first month)
- FuboTV (7-day free trial)
- Peacock Premium ($5.99/month)
Canada
TSN is showing every game. You can subscribe for direct streaming or get it as part of your cable package.
- TSN ($19.99/mon or $199.90/year)
Australia
As in the UK, coverage of the World Cup 2022 is entirely free to air. You can watch all 64 games on the SBS TV channel and stream it online too with SBS On Demand.
- SBS On Demand (free)
New Zealand
Paid provider Sky Sports are the World Cup 2022 rights holders in New Zealand. You can watch as part of your Sky subscription of pick up a Sky Now TV pass. There is also a 7-day free trial.
- Sky Sport Now ($19.99 / $39.99)
