France were the hot favourites to make the final, but instead, come 5am Monday (AEST), it will be Spain who battle Argentina for World Cup glory.Despite being the European champions, Spain flew under the radar during the tournament before putting France to the sword in the semi-finals with a masterful performance that brought Kylian Mbappe’s tournament to an end.On the other side of the pitch will be reigning champions Argentina, with their superstar Lionel Messi leading the way.This masthead’s football reporters took a look back at the tournament and discuss whether we were always going to end up here, whether England were unlucky to lose to Argentina, and what the Socceroos are capable of in 2030.Vince, you were the only one of our experts to predict Spain would be in the final. What did you see pre-tournament that made you think they’d be there?Oh, just because I have a level of foresight and intelligence that no others possess, basically.No, just because they’re good, and when you get to the semi-finals of a major tournament, there’s going to be four good teams, and the margins are fine. I don’t think it should be that much of a shock. They’re an excellent team, and they were just better than France on the day, but picking Spain to be in the final was not some Nostradamus act.Spain celebrate winning the Euros in 2024.Getty ImagesWere there early indications that they would get this far in the tournament? Did they always look like a sure thing of at least making the final four?Not after Cape Verde. But then Cape Verde ended up looking really good. But as it was their [Spain] tournament opener, a 0-all draw with a small archipelagic country, which at the time they qualified was the smallest country by landmass to reach a World Cup, they didn’t look good back then.But then I would add that Lamine Yamal during the group stage, and then into the knockouts, started looking like a standout and someone who could impress and be a difference-maker. But he’s still only scored one goal.Lamine Yamal will be a key man for Spain in their battle with Argentina.Getty ImagesI mean, as much as a team as good as Spain could sneak into the final four, maybe it just wasn’t that all the storylines were really around Spain. I mean, they were for the Cape Verde draw, but then they had these minor struggles along the way, and we had all these other major dramas and upsets going on in the rest of the tournament. And there was a little bit of negativity, I think, around Spain in those early stages. And I think (their manager) Luis de la Fuente was a bit like, “It’s fine”. He thought it was just business as usual, and they were going to grow into the tournament, and maybe then it’s all on us (pundits). I knew Spain were this crazy, intelligent, technical team, as we all know that they are. But what he’s actually done with that team, their winning record and their undefeated record over the past couple of years says it all, really. So maybe we should have expected it. I just thought France’s front three, four, if you include Michael Olise, was just unstoppable. But they just didn’t show up when they needed to, and that’s football.And also, Spain have defended so bloody well, and not just in the sense that they put so many bodies behind the ball. They just don’t let the other team have the ball for long periods. And if you’re doing that, then in theory you can’t lose, right?It’s defensive football, but not as we usually think of it. It’s just full control, and I just struggle to see, looking ahead to the final, how they will lose that control.Who are our reporters tipping?Vince Rugari: Spain win 2-1 in extra time. Lionel Messi will score, maybe Lamine Yamal will score the winner and we’ll have a proper passing of the torch moment between the bath buddies.Emma Kemp: Spain are going to score first, Argentina will score after the 85th minute or in stoppage time. It’s going to go to extra time, and then Spain will win 2-1.Frances Howe: Argentina will win in extra time. I think it will be close, and Spain will score, but Argentina will find a late winner like they have in most of their knockout stage matches. Argentina 2-1.Nick Ralston: I think Spain wins 3-1. Possibly, Spain lead 2-1 with not long to go, Argentina are pushing and Spain get a definitive winner on the counter. Billie Eder: I think it’s 1-1 as we near the end of the match, but then Messi comes up with something to wrap up the match before extra time. Whether that’s an assist or a goal, I reckon Argentina win 2-1.Well, that’s probably a good segue into France because they were the tournament favourites. Most people had France and Argentina as their final two. So why isn’t Kylian Mbappe getting an appearance in the final?Because he didn’t show up in the semi-final.Mbappe reacts to France’s semi-final loss to Spain.AP Photo/Julio CortezSpain were very good though. I would just say that Spain’s performance was probably the best of the tournament. I know France didn’t show up, but Spain didn’t let them show up either. Which is interesting looking ahead to the final, isn’t it? Because that Spain midfield is going to be the thing that dominates, and Argentina just don’t really have a midfield.How do we see that final playing out? Do we think it’s a sure thing Spain will win? Or are Argentina going to be able to find a way to go back-to-back?Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates bask in the glory of their 2022 World Cup win.GettyLionel Messi is such a difference-maker. I know that’s a cliché, but I feel like we saw that in the semi-final against England with his two assists. He makes chances for Argentina, and they don’t need a lot of them. They don’t need to hold on to possession for extended periods of time, and they just don’t quit. Look at the amount of late-game goals they’ve scored – all of their match-winning goals in the knockout rounds have come after the 90-minute mark. I don’t think Spain will make the same mistake England did of going 1-0 up and then just trying to park the bus. In that game against France, Spain took the lead, but they kept pushing. England didn’t do that.But I don’t think Spain would be stupid enough to go 1-0 up and then sort of, you know, borrow from the Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel playbooks, and just try and see out the match. I think Spain wins.The thing is, you can’t stop Messi. No one has been able to, and no one ever can, I don’t think. He’s going to have chances to influence the game and set up goals. It’ll come down to whether Spain allow them to be decisive in the match. Spain are going to need to properly put them away if they have an advantage. Otherwise, this bloke will find a way to damage them. And it’s just about making sure that they’ve done enough damage to make sure that when that moment happens, it doesn’t cost them the game.The thing that’s interesting when talking about Messi is how do you even try to mark a player like that? It’s because he spends so much of the time walking. Half his tournament, he’s been walking. But the way he reads everything, he can just be like going for a stroll, having a little meander, and he’s just got eyes everywhere in the back of his head, and he’s reading the game. And he’s picked that pocket of space before anybody else even knows it’s there.Lionel Messi will be the most dangerous player on the pitch come Monday’s final.AP PhotoThis version of Messi is maybe more dangerous than previous ones because he walks around, and so you probably think, as a defender, “Oh well, it’s fine”, because he’s not causing you any damage, and maybe you subconsciously become a little bit more relaxed defensively. And you just fall into his trap because he will walk around, and then he’ll run once and kill you.Nick, you mentioned England before. Were they unlucky not to beat Argentina? Or did they get what they deserved?Jude Bellingham looks on after England’s loss to Argentina in the semi-finals.Getty ImagesThey got what they deserved, didn’t they? My phone was blowing up with English friends who couldn’t believe that 35 minutes out, they were already parking the bus. There was all this talk of getting rid of Southgate and Tuchel finding ways to win these games that England haven’t been able to win. But I think everyone, even those people who only watch football every four years, were like, “Oh, Argentina were always going to score at least two goals the way England were playing”. It seemed so obvious, and it was like watching a very predictable movie play out in front of you. It was bad.I was having this debate with my dad because he was so dogmatic about how cowardly England have been playing throughout this tournament, and I was almost defending England and Tuchel and saying, “Well, they hired him because they knew exactly what he was, and he was the guy who was going to come and manage games and get them through to where they are”. And he’s done that, and he’s done that through his smart game management. But against Argentina, it was cowardly, and there’s no other way to describe that. To make some of the substitutions that he made at the times that he made them, it just honestly baffles me.Harry Kane after England’s loss to Argentina.Getty ImagesLet’s quickly look back at our Socceroos. Do we think they ended up where they deserved to? Or should they have done better?I think where they finished this year was in line with where they probably are as a team. It was a very tight group. They got a win, a draw, and a loss out of it. They progressed to the knockout round, and then missed out on the round of 16 on penalties, which means they got close. People can and should have issues with the way Tony Popovic handled the last game, and the shootout in particular, but I think, it was as expected. And I think some of the reaction has been a little bit hysterical, to be honest. I understand it, but I think it’s been a little bit over the top because my fear coming into the tournament was that this World Cup would be a little bit too soon for this group of players, and that’s sort of how it turned out.Australia’s Nestory Irankunda.APBut expectations will rise for 2030, and I think the minimum expectation, assuming that these players progress in their club careers in the way that we all think that they will, is that they must win a knockout game, as a minimum. And then possibly more than that, because it’s a really good group of players with a really high ceiling.This may be one of the best groups of players Australia’s had for a long time. Is it golden generation level? We’ll find out in the next few years if Nestory Irankunda can get to the Premier League or if Alessandro Circati can take the next step and stuff like that. But I wasn’t too down on where they finished. We should expect them to challenge for the Asian Cup in six months’ time, and then why not go deep at a World Cup?