Friends in fútbol,
France and Argentina played the best game of the 2018 World Cup. France won 4-3, largely because Argentina chased Mbappé a lot. And didn't ever catch him.
Mbappé was 18 years old. He scored twice in that game. You can read that again.
Messi is now 35, a fact that often makes Commish (also 35) feel extremely unaccomplished. The two meet again, right now, on sport's biggest stage.
Final PICKS
- Pickles Pick'em
- Pelé Processional Bracket
- Old Man Buffon Survivor
- Your group picks (get in a group with friends!)
In our competitions, @comenayeaha and @Curlybrazil remain tied atop the Pick'em overall standings, at 24/30. Both took Argentina. 13 others lurk just one win back.
For the Knockout Stage interval of the Pick'em, @Curlybrazil (13/14) has a 1-game lead over nine others (12/14).
In the Bracket, @RotoJeff maintains his 2-point lead over @JoeDurp. Jeff has France. Joe has Argentina.
Top 50 get paid in both the Pick'em overall competition and the Bracket. Additionally, top 20 in the Pick'em Knockout Stage interval walk home with something.
Which soccer world heavyweight will walk home with the World Cup trophy? Our answer is two hours away.
PICK STATS
Pickles Pick'em
- We're 59% on Argentina and 41% on France
- It's gonna take 22 wins (out of 31 picks) to cash in the Overall competition
- Right now, 95 people are at 21 wins or more
- And again, BOTH of our leaders are on Argentina. If Messi gets his Cup, we'll go to tiebreakers, and @Curlybrazil owns the first tiebreaker (cumulative goal differential) courtesy of Portugal's 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland in the Round of 16 (a 10-goal swing given @comenayeaha was on the wrong end of that game).
- If France wins, we'll again go to tiebreakers but Commish will need a calculator given many will be tied for the title
Pelé Processional Bracket
- Once again, if France wins, @RotoJeff wins the Bracket. If Argentina wins, it's @JoeDurp
- 87 people correctly picked an ARG-FRA final
- 10.6% of us nailing the Final matchup is really good. I can't imagine many March Madness bracket competitions see anywhere near that percentage getting the Championship matchup correct
- Of the 87, 55 picked Argentina to win and 32 picked France to win
- If we look at each side of the bracket, 196 had Argentina in the Final (23.8%) and 117 (14.2%) had them winning it all
- On the other side, a whopping 335 had France reaching the Final (40.7%) but just 123 (14.9%) had them winning it all
- When you compare each side of the bracket in isolation, you can clearly explain these numbers: We felt Argentina's side was tougher
- A ton of us had France making the final but losing to Brazil. If you picked Argentina to survive their side of the bracket (which included Brazil), then you felt they had a pretty good chance of winning it all
- Reminder that clicking any username on the standings pages will show you their bracket.
Old Man Buffon Survivor
- HUGE congrats to @alex_goblue, our inaugural Old Man Buffon Survivor champ!
- Alex had France in the semis. Everyone else had Croatia or Morocco.
- Alex was all out of teams, but it didn't matter, as they were the only person to survive the semis
WEEKLY AWARDS
Messi Magic Award
Our best weekly comment (or three)
@Merf (Pick'em: FRA): "2026 prediction: France over Brazil, where a 34-year-old Neymar plays the Messi role, and Mbappe Panenka's another legend's dreams."
Commish says: My god. If both your pick today and that prediction come true... is Mbappe in conversation for greatest team sport athlete of all time? I thought about that before typing it, and I'm letting that question stand.
"Watch Me Dive" Award
Most convincing comment
@DolphinsFightSong (Pick'em: FRA): "I'm contending for a 1st or 2nd place finish in both the Pick 'Em and the Bracket Game, and I hedged by taking the opposite team in Pick 'Em as in my Bracket. I'm so disappointed in myself."
Commish says: I really want to be like "BE BOLDER NEXT TIME" but... admittedly this is the wise thing to do, financially. Alas... I mean... well... I really feel I... you know... BE BOLDER NEXT TIME!!!
Insulting Zizou's Sister Award
The spiciest/wildest take
@Mully (Pick'em: FRA): "5-1 france with a messi pk but he will be crying while he takes it"
Commish says: Absolutely savage
MORE COMMENTS
@Johnson67 (Pick'em: ARG): "Messi makes a mess of France, with a little help from up above!!"
Commish says: HELLO IT'S ME, ON THE ROOF
@judigregry (Pick'em: FRA): "Right about now I’m wishing I’d paid more attention when my French foreign exchange student tried to teach me cuss words. Instead I’m being bombarded with text messages that read “I told you so”, and have no reply except inappropriate emojis."
Commish says: This reads like an Argentina pick, where you ditch the emojis and search for the most absurd "sorry I didn't hear you - what did you say?" GIF you can find in the event of a Messi win. Don't cave to your exchange student. Do it for the shit talk glory!!
@Ickey_Woods_Shuffle (Pick'em: ARG): "Saudi Arabia's upset of Messi and Argentina in the Group Stage tarnished and sullied my opinion of La Albiceleste. I picked against them all the way through thinking they would not advance. Now I find them in the finals firing on all cylinders with a resolute Messi. Young Julian Alvarez scores twice to snatch the Golden Boot away from both Messi and Mbappe right before their eyes. The White and Blue capture their third World Cup!"
Commish says: Alvarez winning the Golden Boot is the type of hot take I'm here for!
@untitandelafc (Pick'em: ARG): "Sometimes Football is an unjust sport. Sometimes it even feels unfair. But trust me, in the end it always rewards. Always. The two best teams of the tournament are playing the Final Match. France has had the best roster (even with the absences, still the best roster). And many say that with that roster they should have played way better football than what they did and not the unattractive style they have been playing. The Talent they have allows for literally any style of play, including the unattractive but effective one. Argentina was the best team tactically, they have been learning from their mistakes and improving since the first game. France's strength is their roster. Argentina's strength is their game. Like I said, in the end Football always rewards. Will it reward the game or the roster? I think it should reward the Game. Also it would be beyond unfair that Mbappé would have 2 Cups and 3 WC more to play (or 2) and Messi 0 and 0 (Although if he doesn't win this one then my 2026 Prophecy activates & Messi wins the USA/MEX/CAN Cup in Los Angeles while also playing for LAFC and thus leaving the football world as the King of Los Angeles; so win win for me). Lionel Messi will always be the 2nd best Football player in the History of the Sport. It is only fair that he walks out of the game with at least 1 World Cup. And, it should be this one."
Commish says: So when I got blasted in my manhood twice in a single half in a soccer game growing up, would you say "fútbol always rewards, Commish"? WHAT WAS IT REWARDING
@timmyo40 (Pick'em: ARG): "France will lose because their best defender remains on the bench. Saliba!!"
Commish says: Somehow this is both a reasonable take and a very hot take
@LasLiLo1432 (Pick'em: FRA): "Would you like fries with that repeat champion?"
Commish says: TOTS >> FRIES DON'T @ ME
@btownlegend (Pick'em: ARG): "Messi hates everybody"
Commish says: He offered me a Bud Light Lime with extra lime. That is not hate - it's love.
Yours in Golden Boots,
The Commish