SI:AM | Messi’s First or Back-to-Back Titles for France?

The World Cup final will be epic.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I don’t know who to root for Sunday, but I know it’ll be a great match.

In today’s SI:AM:

🏗️ The people who made the World Cup possible

⚾ The Yankees make another free-agent splash

🌉 What the Warriors can do without Steph

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It all comes down to this

A World Cup full of surprises has led to a reasonably predictable final as two pre-tournament favorites—Argentina and defending champion France—prepare to face off Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.

After surviving thrilling quarterfinal contests—France beat England thanks in large part to Harry Kane’s missed penalty, and Argentina squeaked past the Netherlands in a penalty shootout—both teams won their semifinal matches with relative ease. Argentina was never really in danger during its 3–0 win over Croatia, although Morocco challenged France more than the 2–0 score line might indicate.

The big concern for France heading into the game is the health of its players—not in terms of injuries, but a virus that caused two starters to miss the Morocco game. Midfielder Adrien Rabiot and defender Dayot Upamecano were sick with an unidentified virus that manager Didier Deschamps said was causing flu-like symptoms. (Deschamps also said that winger Kingsley Coman started feeling sick after the semis.) Rabiot and Upamecano were separated from their teammates to avoid spreading the illness. France has the depth to make up for their absences, but going into a World Cup final shorthanded isn’t what you want. Their statuses will be worth watching before Sunday.

Argentina doesn’t have any such concerns. And honestly, even if La Albiceleste were missing a few players, it wouldn’t matter as long as Lionel Messi was still available. Everything goes through Messi. (Well, except for Julián Álvarez’s incredible solo effort for the second goal against Croatia.) Messi is tied with France’s Kylian Mbappé for the World Cup lead with five goals, but he’s also had some unreal assists, like his creative, precise pass against the Netherlands and his long run to set up Álvarez’s second against Croatia.

Messi is the focal point for Argentina, and he’ll be the focus of the narrative leading up to and during Sunday’s game. For better or worse, this World Cup final is a referendum on Messi’s legacy for the Argentinian national team. For all of Messi’s on-field brilliance and club success, international soccer’s greatest achievement has eluded him. At 35, he has already said that this will be his final World Cup. It’s his last chance to do what the great Diego Maradona did before him: lead Argentina to glory.

Standing in his way is France, the defending champion. You couldn’t have asked for a more dramatic matchup. On one side, you have Messi trying to accomplish the one feat that has slipped through his fingers. On the other, you have France trying to become the first back-to-back World Cup winner since Brazil in 1962. It’s a recipe for a great showdown—and it should live up to the promise.

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Ahead of Sunday’s final, Greg Bishop’s Daily Cover story puts the focus back on the migrant workers who built the stadiums in Qatar:

In the aftermath of that vote [that awarded Qatar the 2022 World Cup], Qatar built and grew, constructed and boomed and swelled, adding towers upon towers, public transportation and hotels and highways and airport extensions. The men who toiled to transform an entire country came mostly from South Asia, and their presence spoke to their utter desperation, the lack of another choice. Qatar promised to rapidly transform and then pulled it off, on the laborers’ backs, evolving from a Gulf Region afterthought to, by some measures, the richest country in the world.

• Chris Herring thinks the Warriors could be in real trouble now that Stephen Curry is out injured.
• Ever wondered how a college football coaching search actually works? Richard Johnson explains.
• The signings of T.Y. Hilton, Linval Joseph, Ndamukong Suh and others are part of a growing trend in the NFL, Conor Orr writes.
• Tom Verducci analyzes the big contract the Yankees gave Carlos Rodón. 
• Pat Forde breaks down the NCAA’s decision to hire Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker as its next president.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Another reliable performance from 49ers QB Brock Purdy (17-of-26 passing for 217 yards and two touchdowns).

4. Tyler Herro’s 41 points, one night after he dropped 35.

3. Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov’s unreal save.

2. Larry Nance Jr.’s game-saving block. (The Pelicans would go on to fall to the Jazz in overtime.)

1. Connor McDavid’s coast-to-coast goal.

SIQ

When Drew Brees surpassed Peyton Manning for the most career NFL touchdown passes on this day in 2019, who caught the record-setting score?

• Michael Thomas
• Josh Hill
• Tre’Quan Smith
• Jared Cook

Yesterday’s SIQ: Which college named its baseball field after Billy Hoy, who is sometimes credited with being the reason baseball umpires began using hand signals?

• Princeton
• Middlebury
• Gallaudet
• Bucknell

Answer: Gallaudet. While there are other major league players who have been hearing impaired (such as Curtis Pride), Hoy had the best career of any. In 2001, Gallaudet University, a school for students who are deaf and hard of hearing, renamed its baseball field in his honor.

Hoy, who lost his hearing due to a childhood illness, made his big league debut with the Nationals in 1888 and played for seven teams in his 14-year career. He was an outfielder known for his accurate arm who once threw out three runners at the plate in a single game. He was more than capable at the plate, too, twice leading his league in walks. He also showed his prowess with the bat in a historic game against the Giants on May 16, 1902, when he picked up two hits against New York pitcher Luther Taylor, who was also deaf. Hoy is said to have signed “I’m glad to see you!” when he walked to the plate for the first time.

Whether Hoy is responsible for the introduction of umpires’ hand signals is a matter of some dispute. Umpire Bill Klem’s Hall of Fame plaque mentions that he is “credited with introducing arm signals.” Hoy, meanwhile, began asking umpires to raise their arm if the pitch was a strike while he was playing with Oshkosh of the Northwestern League, according to a 2008 SABR article, which quotes Richard Marazzi’s book The Rules and Lore of Baseball. But turning around after every pitch put Hoy at a disadvantage, as pitchers would try to rush their next delivery to catch him off guard. Instead, Hoy started having the third base coach relay the call with a hand signal. So while Hoy may have helped introduce hand signals, it’s Klem who’s credited with making the practice ubiquitous.

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