Who was the last team to win back-to-back World Cups as France looks to replicate feat in 2022 World Cup final with Argentina

Theo Hernandez’s early acrobatic effort and a Randal Kolo Muani tap-in sealed a hard-fought 2-0 win at Al Bayt Stadium, where they edged past Gareth Southgate’s England 2-1 in last weekend’s tight quarter-final clash.

The win secured France a World Cup final with Argentina on Sunday.

Four and a half years ago, France beat Croatia to win the World Cup for a second time.

If they were to replicate the feat in Qatar on Sunday, France would become only the third team to successfully defend the World Cup, and first for 60 years.

The first nation to do it was Italy in 1934 and 1938, the second and third tournaments, when there were 16 and 15 teams in the tournament respectively.

The second and last team to do it was the Brazil of Pele, in 1958 in Sweden and 1962 in Chile, when on each occasion there were 16 teams.

France have reached successive finals in the era of 32-team World Cups and standing in their way on Sunday is the Argentina of Lionel Messi.

Antoine Griezmann, one of the outstanding players of this tournament said after the win over Morocco: “Any team with Messi in is a totally different proposition.

“We have seen practically all of their matches at this World Cup.

“We have seen Argentina play, we know how they play. They are a difficult team to play and they seem to be on top form.

“Of course, not only Messi, they have a strong side around him so we know it is going to be a tough game and they will have a lot of support in the crowd.

“We will get back to work tomorrow, focused on it, how we can hurt them, how we can defend against them. We will be well prepared.”