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According to London-based stockbroker Joachim Klement, Lionel Messi's Argentina will beat England in the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
As per Bloomberg, Klement's model of prediction includes variables such as current team strength as well as socio-economic ones such as per-capita GDP, population and country temperature. These factors are said to influence a football team's performance, and Klement has found success with them twice.
He predicted Germany to win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and for France to lift the trophy four years later. This time, the Liberum Capital strategist has predicted that Lionel Messi will win his first World Cup title.
Messi helped La Albiceleste reach the final of the competition a little over eight years ago. However, Germany's Mario Gotze won the game for Die Mannschaft with a sublime goal in extra time.
Klement, however, acknowledges that his predictions include an element of chance and has a plan in place in case things go wrong. He said:
“I have been working in the financial services industry for more than 20 years and if I have perfected one thing, it is how to find excuses for faulty predictions. If I am right, it’s skill and if I am wrong, it’s somebody else’s fault.”
The seed of Argentina and England's inter-continental rivalry is rooted in the 1966 World Cup - a competition which the Three Lions won. The two teams met in the quarterfinals of the competition, where England won 1-0 via a Geoff Hurst goal that the Argentines believed was offside.
The 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom meant that the football pitch became the former's battleground to exact revenge from the UK in the following years. They did so four years later, when Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal helped beat England 2-1 in the last-eight stage.
Argentina went on to win the competition, beating West Germany in the final.
Lionel Messi's Argentina are favorites to qualify from their World Cup group
Lionel Messi and Argentina have been handed a relatively easier Group C in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The third-ranked men's team in the world begin their campaign against Saudi Arabia on November 22 before taking on Mexico four days later. Their toughest task in this group is expected to come against Poland on November 30.
Messi is arguably Argentina's most important player going into the World Cup, something that his international teammate Nehuen Perez recognizes. Despite being 35 years old, the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar is playing some of his best football this season.
Messi has six goals and eight assists in 11 games for his club across all competitions this season. He helped Argentina to a 3-0 friendly win against Honduras on September 24.
