Roy Keane Names the Two Teams That Will Contest the 2026 World Cup Final

Roy Keane has given his verdict on who he expects to battle it out in the World Cup final after watching England reach the knockout rounds.

The tournament's group stage concluded on Sunday (June 28th), and most of international football's heavyweights advanced to the Round of 32. That included Thomas Tuchel's Three Lions, who won Group L and met DR Congo in their first knockout game.

England came from behind to beat the Congolese 2-1 on Wednesday courtesy of a Harry Kane brace. This came a day after France proved their worth as tournament favourites with a sensational 3-0 win over Sweden.

Keane Rules England out of World Cup Final

Keane doesn't expect England to reach the final on July 19th but he is backing France to compete in their third consecutive final. The former Manchester United midfielder gave a glowing verdict of Didier Deschamps' Les Bleus while speaking on ITV:

"The French attacking players are as good as any. But then we saw that with Brazil. We’ve seen it with England’s main lads turning up against Panama."

Keane has also been impressed by Argentina, whom Lionel Messi continues to captain and help make history for. The reigning world champions face Cape Verde in the Round of 32 on Friday:

"I think Argentina and France are the teams that have the players and the good options. There’d be no surprise if they end up meeting in the final. I’d be surprised if they don’t meet in the final."

If France and Argentina were to meet in New York New Jersey Stadium later this month, it would be a repeat of the classic played out at the 2022 World Cup. Messi fired his nation to glory with a penalty shootout victory following a pulsating 3-3 draw over 120 minutes.

Kylian Mbappe is in red-hot form for the French, and he'll be eyeing revenge for the heartbreaking defeat in Qatar. He's battling Messi in the Golden Boot race with both sat on six goals.

Who France and Argentina Could Meet Ahead of Final

France eased past Sweden in the Round of 32 and booked themselves a last-16 meeting with Paraguay on Saturday (July 4th). Deschamps' men come up against one of the tournament's surprise packages, who saw off Germany on penalties.

Should Les Bleus win, they will face the winners of Canada vs Morocco in the quarter-finals on July 9th. A semi-final meeting against one of Portugal, Croatia, Spain, Austria, the USA, Bosnia, Belgium or Senegal then awaits.

Argentina needs to beat Cape Verde to advance to the Round of 16, where they could face Australia or Egypt on July 7th. Should Lionel Scaloni's men win that game, they'd face either Switzerland, Algeria, Colombia or Ghana in the quarter-finals on July 11th.

There is a chance the Argentines meet England in the semi-finals or even Brazil. Other possibilities include Mexico and Norway, who face the Three Lions and Selecao in their respective Round of 16 matches.

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