Qatar 2022 Doha
After 63 matches played over the last 29 days, the curtain comes down on the 2022 Fifa Qatar World Cup Sunday when familiar foes France and Argentina meet in the final at the 88,000-seat Lusail Stadium from 6pm.
Both teams will be looking to write their history.
France will want to become only the third team in the history of the World Cup to retain their title after Brazil in 1962 and Italy in 1938.
Argentina will be chasing after their third world title after triumphing on home soil in 1978 and in Mexico 1986.
France or Argentina will also become the third most successful nation at the World Cup with three titles after Brazil (five) and Italy and Germany (four).
Everyone is also talking about how this should be Lionel Messi’s World Cup that will fittingly crown his story as perhaps the greatest football player of all time.
France will obviously want nothing to do with this train of thought.
“People wanting Messi to win the World Cup does not bother me. I have no stress. We are composed and focused. Our objective is to be world champions again and we will do everything possible to achieve our objectives,” Les Bleus coach Didier Deschamps said here on Saturday.
Deschamps will also be chasing his own history of becoming only the second coach to retain the World Cup after Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1938. In fact, Pozzo is the only coach to have won two World Cup titles.
Fans have been urged to be in the stadium by 4.30pm for the closing ceremony which Fifa has promised will be ‘stunning’.
The final ceremony will last 15 minutes and will be themed around the world coming together for the 29 days of the tournament through poetry and music.
Onto the serious business, France will have been grappling with a selection headache after several players fell ill in their camp including Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot.
Deschamps said they were managing the situation as best as they could and as far as he was concerned he had a squad of 24 from which to pick his starting line-up.
Les Bleus are on a 10-match unbeaten run against South American teams at the World Cup.
Remarkably, France’s last loss to South American opposition at the World Cup was against Argentina, 2-1, in the group stages way back in 1978 in Buenos Aires.
They defeated three South American nations en route to their 2018 success, including Argentina 4-3 in the round of 16 in Kazan, where they came from behind to win with two Kylian Mbappe’s goals.
Mbappe will once again lead the formidable French attack in Lusail that also has the countries all-time leading scorer Olivier Giroud.
Mbappe is the tournament’s joint top scorer with five goals, same as Messi, who will also achieve the milestone of being the player who has featured in most matches at the World Cup, 26, if he plays on Sunday.
Argentina can also count on in-form Manchester City forward Julián Álvarez, who has scored four goals in Qatar, including a brilliant individual effort against Croatia in their semi-final.
This promises to be a fascinating contest between two giants of the game hell-bent on being crowned world champions.
Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will handle the match.
Share this news
This Year’s Most Read News Stories
Zanzibar tourism investors alarmed by new mandatory insurance fee
Tourism investors in Zanzibar have voiced their concerns over the introduction of mandatory travel insurance, cautioning about its potential negative impact on the industry.Continue Reading
Britam half-year net profit hits Sh2bn on higher investment income
Insurer and financial services provider Britam posted a 22.5 percent jump in net earnings for the half-year ended June 2024, to Sh2 billion, buoyed by increased investment income.
The rise in half-year net profit from Sh1.64 billion posted in a similar period last year came on the back of net investment income rising 2.5 times to Sh13.27 billion from Sh5.3 billion.
“We are confident in the growth and performance trend that Britam has achieved, supported by its subsidiaries in Kenya and the region. Our business is expanding its revenue base while effectively managing costs,” Britam Chief Executive Officer Tom Gitogo said.
“Our customer-centric approach is fueling growth in our customer base and product uptake, particularly through micro-insurance, partnerships, and digital channels.”
The investment income growth was fueled by interest and dividend income rising 34 percent to Sh9.1 billion, which the insurer attributed to growth in revenue and the gains from the realignment of the group’s investment portfolio.
Britam also booked a Sh3.79 billion gain on financial assets at a fair value, compared with a Sh1.8 billion loss posted in a similar period last year.
The increased investment income helped offset the 12.7 percent decline in net insurance service result to Sh2.13 billion in the wake of claims paid out rising at a faster pace than that of premiums received.
Britam said insurance revenue, which is money from written premiums, increased to Sh17.8 billion from Sh16.6 billion, primarily driven by growth in the Kenya insurance business and regional general insurance businesses, which contributed 30 percent of the revenue.
The group has a presence in seven countries in Africa namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique, and Malawi.
Britam’s insurance service expense hit Sh13.6 billion from Sh11.3 billion, while net insurance finance expenses rose 2.6 times to Sh12.3 billion during the same period.
“Net insurance finance expenses increased mainly due to growth in interest cost for the deposit administration business driven by better investment performance. This has also been impacted by a decline in the yield curve, which has led to an increase in the insurance contract liabilities. The increase has been offset by a matching increase in fair value gain on assets,” said Britam.
Britam’s growth in profit is in line with that of other Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed insurers, which have seen a rise in profits.
Jubilee Holdings net profit in the six months increased by 22.7 percent to Sh2.5 billion on increased income from insurance, helping the insurer maintain Sh2 per share interim dividend.
CIC Insurance Group posted a 0.64 percent rise in net profit to Sh709.99 million in the same period as net earnings of Liberty Kenya nearly tripled to Sh632 million from Sh213 million, while Sanlam Kenya emerged from a loss to post a Sh282.2 million net profit.
Tato faults Zanzibar mandatory insurance for arriving visitors
Tato chairman has dismissed the new policy is an unnecessary and duplicative burden on touristsContinue Reading
