DOHA – As the World Cup reaches a climax on Sunday, some hotels in Qatar have seen an uptick in check-ins.

Often, their short-term guests are distinguishable – clad in sky blue and white while dragging their luggage behind them, and wearing excited grins. They have arrived seeking to be a part of a moment in football history.

Sunday’s final between Argentina and France, at the gleaming 89,000-capacity Lusail Stadium, will see each team hunt for their third World Cup win. Only Germany and Italy (four each), and Brazil (five) have more than these two sides.

The match will be the last at the World Cup for Argentina captain Lionel Messi, 35, who is poised to set a record for the number of World Cup appearances – 26 – and is currently tied with Germany great Lothar Matthaus.

Messi, a peerless football artist who has thrilled and mesmerised masses for almost two decades, is aiming for his first Cup in what is his last dance, hoping to add to Argentina’s previous triumphs in 1978 and 1986.

A win for Argentina would underscore a bright future ahead for them, with the emergence of a crop of young talent, led by 21-year-old midfielder Enzo Fernandez and striker Julian Alvarez, 22, to carry the torch after their talisman bows out.

It would also be extra meaningful given this is the first World Cup since the death of Diego Maradona, the incomparable star who almost single-handedly led them to their last title and whose image appears at every Argentina game on flags and T-shirts worn by supporters in Qatar.

For defending champions France, who won their first title in 1998 and second four years ago in Russia, history also beckons.

A win would make them the first country to lift back-to-back World Cups in 60 years and only the third ever, after Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962).

Their own star, Kylian Mbappe, football’s king-in-waiting and the heir apparent to Messi as the great superstar for the next decade, would sit alongside Pele as the only players ever to win two World Cups by the age of 23.

This will be the fourth time the two sides have met in a World Cup match, but only the second in a knockout game.

Argentina beat France in the group stage in 1930 and 1978, and four years ago, the French ran out 4-3 victors in a round-of-16 game which saw the goal of the tournament from Benjamin Pavard, two other strikes from Mbappe, and two assists by Messi. Many will be hoping for a similar level of entertainment.

Indeed, an intriguing clash is in store. La Albiceleste, having started the tournament with a 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia in arguably the biggest upset in the 92-year history of the World Cup, have shown improvement with each passing game.

Their 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia was their best display in Qatar; a polished, disciplined team performance that was garnished with Messi’s brilliance and Alvarez’s energy in the attacking third.

Coach Lionel Scaloni will likely bank on the same strategy as he attempts to outwit his opposite number Didier Deschamps, whose side have performed like champions, in that they have been able to win without playing exceptionally well.

In their wins over England and Morocco in the quarter- and semi-finals respectively, France had less possession than their opponents.

But boasting a stout defence led by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and centre-back Raphael Varane, a midfield run by the imperious Antoine Griezmann, and the direct, turbo-charged runs of Mbappe up front, they enter the final as a very formidable team confident in their ability to seize the big moments in big matches.

Yet if Les Bleus find a way to triumph again, they would be lifting the Cup against the odds.

They went into their tournament without centre-back Presnel Kimpembe, two first-choice midfielders in N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, and chief striker and reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, through injury.

On Friday, 48 hours before the final, Varane and Ibrahima Konate – the centre-back pairing that saw off Morocco – were absent from training because of the flu, as was winger Kingsley Coman. First XI players Aurelien Tchouameni (hip injury) and Theo Hernandez (knee) also sat out the session. However, they were all back for Saturday’s open training session.

Winger Ousmane Dembele played down the effects of the virus on the team saying: “I made them ginger and lemon teas.” At this stage, any psychological edge could prove the difference.

With so much at stake, it is no wonder there has been a surge of supporters flooding into this tiny gulf state.

Throughout the World Cup, Argentina have been one of the best-supported sides.

Before their semi-final, the Argentinian embassy in Qatar said that there were up to 40,000 fans who had travelled some 13,000km from South America to support the team in Doha.

Gustavo, who was waving a giant flag of his hometown club Rosario Central outside the stadium before the Croatia match, said he decided to travel to Qatar after Argentina’s penalty shoot-out win over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

“It just feels,” the 38-year-old told The Straits Times, “like this team are going to do something special. So I want to be a part of it.”

But La Albiceleste’s feverish backing here is not down only to their travelling horde of supporters. They have also been able to count on the noise generated by those from the local migrant worker population and fans who have arrived from elsewhere, like Raheem Ummarkutty from Kerala.

The South Indian state he hails from became famous before the World Cup after fans erected towering cut-outs of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar in a river, and Ummarkutty, waving an amusing giant flag featuring members of the Argentina squad as cattle herders, told ST that back home, “it is like Kerala is hosting the World Cup”.

But he chose to travel because of one man. “This is Messi’s last World Cup,” said the 30-year-old. “So I would have gone also if it was anywhere else in the world.”

France may almost certainly be outnumbered in the Lusail on Sunday, so the French Football Federation is banking on spirit from the past to lift the team instead, inviting members of the 1984 European Championship and 1998 World Cup squads to attend the game.

With all to play for, so much for the fans to roar for, and storylines with final chapters set to be written, this climax promises to be nothing short of a spectacle.