France have now joined Argentina in the 2022 Qatar World Cup final. So, what is Les Bleus captain Hugo Lloris’ head-to-head record with his La Albiceleste counterpart, Lionel Messi?
Well, the showpiece FIFA tie at the Lusail Iconic Stadium marks the sixth time that the two have met. But it is only the second time that Messi and Lloris have played each other with their countries. Four of their previous five encounters have occurred at the domestic level.
Lloris first sought to guard his net against Messi whilst the goalkeeper played for Lyon back in 2009. The now-Tottenham Hotspur man has also not faced the former FC Barcelona star and current Paris Saint-Germain ace since 2018. Messi was still with Barcelona at the time.
What is Argentina icon Messi’s record vs France captain Lloris?
Messi and Lloris will now add a sixth game to their head-to-head record after guiding their respective countries, Argentina and France, to the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. They will now meet on Sunday, December 18 at the Lusail Iconic Stadium with a 15:00 GMT kick-off.
It is a second World Cup final for both players but only Lloris has lifted the coveted golden gong before. The Tottenham ace led Les Bleus to global glory in Russia four years ago with a 4-2 win over Croatia. Germany, meanwhile, beat Messi and Argentina 1-0 at Brazil 2014.
France and Lloris also beat Argentina and Messi in the last 16 en route to the 2018 World Cup final. Les Bleus claimed a 4-3 win over La Albiceleste in Kazan in the only international meeting between the respective captains. Messi did not score but he provided two assists.
The only international match between Messi and Lloris at the last World Cup also resulted in the former’s only defeat. Whilst at Barcelona, the Argentina legend helped to an unbeaten record against the France hero. The 35-year-old featured during two wins and two draws.
So, while France and Lloris boast a 100% win rate in their head-to-head record with Messi and Argentina, the Bleus stopper only has a 20% win rate against the forward for club and country. The 35-year-old Spurs star has also conceded three goals scored by the attacker.
Lloris denied Messi in their first meeting back in 2009 for Lyon and Barcelona
Lloris kept Messi out during their first encounter back in 2009 whilst playing with Lyon and Barcelona respectively. They met in the Champions League last 16 with the first-leg ending 1-1 at the Stade de Gerland. But the Blaugrana would then claim a 5-2 result at Camp Nou.
Messi also scored in the reverse tie to give the Catalan club a 3-0 lead after two goals from Thierry Henry. Samuel Eto’o then turned the ball home to lead 4-0 at the break in a season that the La Liga side went on to win the UEFA tournament for Messi’s second of four titles.
Former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, now in charge of Manchester City, fielded Messi for the full 90 minutes in each tie. The Rosario native would also end the 2008/09 season with 38 goals and 19 assists over 51 games in all competitions, including nine and five in Europe.
The Argentina and France icons did not meet again before the 2018 World Cup
Messi and Lloris would not meet again before Argentina lost to France at the 2018 World Cup. By then, the latter had spent six years at Tottenham after leaving Lyon for £13m back in 2012. The only international tie between the two captains also returned Lloris’ only win.
A clumsy foul by Marcos Rojo on Kylian Mbappe let Antoine Griezmann break the deadlock with a 13th-minute penalty. But La Albiceleste replied on either side of the break as Angel Di Maria (41’) and Gabriel Mercado (48’) flipped the script in the South American side’s favour.
But Benjamin Pavard then scored the Goal of the Tournament as the full-back unleashed a rocket with the outside of his boot on 57 minutes. Mbappe then scored twice in the space of 11 minutes. Messi would only find Sergio Aguero to pull a goal back in the 93rd minute.
After a nine-year wait, two more meetings came along within six months
After waiting nine years to meet each other again, Messi and Lloris met twice more in the six months that followed the 2018 World Cup. UEFA drew both, Barcelona and Tottenham, with PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan in Group B for the 2018/19 Champions League campaign.
But Lloris could not build on his win over Messi in Russia as the Blaugrana took a 4-2 win at Wembley and a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou. The Argentine also scored twice in London with his side’s third and fourth hits to make it 3-1 and 4-2 after Harry Kane and Erik Lamela replied.
Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic had given Barcelona a 2-0 lead at Wembley during the first half. While Ousmane Dembele – who won the 2018 World Cup with Lloris and could add a second title with France at Qatar 2022 – offered his side’s only goal in the 1-1 draw.
Yet despite Barcelona going on to finish top of Group B to Tottenham, Spurs would make the Champions League final. Liverpool edged the Blaugrana 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-final while away goals saw Tottenham beat Ajax. The Reds then beat Spurs 2-0 in the final.
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