Argentina hand Angel Di Maria start for World Cup final against France

The two sides meet at Lusail Stadium on Sunday

Argentina have handed Angel Di Maria a start for the World Cup final against France.

The Juventus midfielder suffered a thigh injury earlier in the tournament with Lionel Scaloni preferring others in the quarter-final and semi-final wins over Netherlands and Croatia.

But in reverting back to a 4-3-3 shape against the French he has also restored one of his most experienced players to his XI.

Leandro Paredes drops down to the bench with Nicolas Tagliafico keeping his place at left-back over Marcos Acuna.

Didier Deschamps, who has seen a virus sweep through his squad ahead of the final, has made two changes from the team who saw off Morocco last time out.

Dayot Upamecano of Bayern Munich and Adrien Rabiot of Juventus come back into the side after missing the semi-final victory with illness.

Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana drop back down to the bench.

Argentina vs France confirmed teams

Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Nicolas Tagliafico, Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez

France: Hugo Lloris, Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Antoine Griezmann, Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe