France not afraid of Leo Messi, according to Theo Hernandez

France duo

and Olivier Giroud are keen to deny Lionel Messi of achieving his dream of winning the World Cup in Sunday’s final at Lusail Stadium.

Albiceleste defeated Croatia 3-0 in a controversial match that saw Messi get his second chance of winning the World Cup. France on the other hand, faced the surprise of the tournament Morocco and despite the game being nervy at times for Les Bleus, they managed a 2-0 victory in the end.

The two teams are set to meet on the weekend and while a lot of narrative surrounding the game is about Lionel Messi winning the World Cup, Theo Hernandez and Olivier Giroud beg to differ.

"Now we must think about the final, I am tired but it's so good to win a World Cup semi-final,"

Hernandez said to Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Now we must recover for Sunday, we are not scared of Messi, but Argentina are an incredible team and we have a few days to work."

The two teams met back in 2018 in a game that ended in a 4-3 defeat for Argentina. France’s all-time leading goalscorer

talked a bit about facing Messi, who in that game was marked by the brilliant N’Golo Kante.

"Messi is an incredible player, but we are not going to let him enjoy the best night he can have,"

Giroud told the reporters.

"We want to win this game. We want to win another World Cup – and we will try everything to stop him. 

"But there is not only Messi in that team. They have got great players who work for the team also. I think that is why they are so strong.

"I don't know if we need a special plan. I remember back in the days of 2018, N'Golo was all the game on his back, behind him. But this time I don't know what will be the plan. We will see with the manager."

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