Lionel Messi is hoping to crown a record-breaking career by lifting the World Cup, but in his way are the formidable reigning champions France spearheaded by the prolific Kylian Mbappe.

After 63 matches and 166 goals, the month-long footballing showpiece reaches its climax at Doha's 89,000-capacity Lusail Stadium on Sunday, with the eagerly anticipated final kicking off at 1500 GMT.

It is being seen by many as a showdown between Messi and Mbappe, teammates at Paris Saint Germain who are at very different stages of their careers.

For Messi it will be a farewell to the World Cup as he plays in his fifth tournament and finally hopes to emulate Argentine hero Diego Maradona who inspired his country to triumph in Mexico 1986.

While for 23-year-old Mbappe he has many years still ahead of him but is still aiming to win back-to-back World Cups with France for the first time since Pele's Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

Messi, 35, has collected seven Ballon d'Or awards for the best player in the world and he will be looking to go one better after losing the 2014 World Cup final in 2014.

Argentina's campaign in Qatar has been boosted by the presence of tens of thousands of supporters who have flocked to each of the team's matches.

"I am well aware that Argentina will have a lot of fans behind them," France coach Didier Deschamps said.

"I know Argentina, many people around the world, and maybe some French people, hope Lionel Messi could win the World Cup, but we're going to do everything to achieve our objective."

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez said: "People say the favourites are France. But we have the greatest player of all time."

Deschamps has had his planning for the final disrupted by a mystery virus that is believed to have affected five players so far.

Players, staff and sources close to the French squad have spoken of a range of symptoms including fever, stomach pain and headaches.

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"We are trying to take as many precautions as possible, to adapt as necessary and get on with it," Deschamps said.

But he had cause for encouragement when all 24 members of his squad took to the field at the start of their last team training session before the final.

France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris says he is not concentrating solely on Messi and pointed to how well France had done so far by shaking off the injury-enforced absences of Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante.

"Lots of people didn't believe in us but here we are back in the final again," said Lloris.

"We know what Messi represents in the history of our sport but this is a match between France and Argentina. We will do everything to win this last battle."

Meanwhile, Mbappe is aiming to become the youngest player to win two World Cups since Pele achieved the feat at the age of 21.

France can also count on Antoine Griezmann, who has been highly influential from midfield in the run to the final.