Referee Marciniak confirmed for World Cup final, meaning it won't be Sampaio

FIFA's chairman of referees, Pierluigi Collina, had been tasked with evaluating officials in the Gulf State, to decide who will be given the showpiece event.

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It has now been confirmed 41-year-old Marciniak will be the man with the whistle when both international heavyweights go toe-to-toe.

He will be joined by assistants Pawel Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz, having already officiated both of the sides to have reached the final.

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The Polish ref oversaw France's 2-1 win over Denmark in the group stages, and later took charge of Argentina's victory over Australia in the last-16 of the competition.

His appointment means several officials including Wilton Sampaio, who enraged England's stars during their quarter-final defeat to the French, will not be in charge.

The Brazilian ref came under a lot of scrutiny for failing to see a potential foul on Bukayo Saka for France's first goal, before failing to award a first-half penalty for Harry Kane.

Sampaio did, though, give England two spot kicks in the second half, albeit the second of which came after a lengthy VAR check, only for it to be missed by Harry Kane.

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English official Michael Oliver was sent home despite a solid tournament, and while Anthony Taylor stayed in Qatar he wasn't in consideration to get the whistle for the final.

On Sunday, Lionel Messi has the opportunity to add football's most prestigious trophy to his cabinet.

The 35-year-old produced a performance in the semi-final which didn't look like a man that was about to bow out of international football, helping his side to a 3-0 victory over Croatia.

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Messi said playing in a final is the best way to go out, and that he doesn't think he could go again when the next World Cup rolls around in 2026.

Asked if Qatar will be his last World Cup, Messi said: "Surely yes. There are many years for the next one and I don't think I will be able to do that and ending this way is the best.

"The important thing is to be able to achieve the group objective, which is the most beautiful of all.

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"We are one step away after fighting a lot and we are going to try to give our best as up to now, to try to make it happen this time."