Lionel Messi's Argentina are all set to take on Kylian Mbappe's France in the final of FIFA World Cup 2022 on Sunday, December 18. It will be a monumentous occasion for both sets of players. On one hand, Messi will be playing his final game before announcing his international retirement, whereas 23-year-old Mbappe could potentially win his second World Cup trophy.
As if the players needed any more motivation to go out and win the coveted World Cup Trophy, FIFA has decided to go with staggering prize money for the team which will win the final.
According to multiple reports, the winning team of the FIFA World Cup 2022 will receive prize money of $42 million, which is approximately Rs 347 crore.
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Which team between Argentina and France will go back home with the prize money and the World Cup trophy remains to be seen, but the team that will finish second will also receive an eye-watering sum. The runners-up of FIFA World Cup 2022 will receive prize money of $30 million, which equates to Rs 248 crore.
Croatia defeated Morocco in the third-place fixture on Saturday 2-1, and with that, Luka Modric's side are set to receive $27 million or 223 crore, whereas, Hakim Ziyech's Morocco, who had a fairy tale run into the semifinal despite being the underdogs, they will go back home with prize money of $25 million, and lots of respect from football fans all across the globe.
Even though neither set of players will be thinking about the prize money, because the World Cup trophy is what they will be eyeing, it does add extra motivation for players to give it their best.
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All eyes will be on Lionel Messi, who will be playing his second FIFA World Cup final, having reached the summit clash back in 2014 as well, where Argentina lost to Germany 0-1. Whereas Kylian Mbappe is also going to grab headlines, it was France who eliminated Argentina from the World Cup in 2018.
While Les Bleus did go on to win the coveted trophy in Russia, they will be playing in their second successive final, and France will be hoping to become only the third team in the history of the competition to retain the FIFA World Cup trophy.
