France defender Theo Hernandez has warned Argentina that they do not fear their talisman Lionel Messi ahead of their epic World Cup final against them on Saturday - but said their opponents are 'an incredible team'.
Les Bleus booked a place in the final after a hard-earned 2-0 win over Morocco on Wednesday night, with Hernandez smashing in the opener before Randal Kolo Muani sealed their progress.
The AC Milan full-back could not hold back his excitement at reaching a World Cup final after playing a major role in the victory but insisted the prospect of coming up against Messi is not something that worries the French players.
However, he did stress that France must focus on the entire team, telling Gazetta dello Sport: 'We must recover for Sunday. We are not scared of Messi, but Argentina are an incredible team and we have a few days to work.'
'Now we must think about the Final, I am tired but it's so good to win a World Cup semi-final.'
While France might claim they aren't fazed by Messi, the forward will have surely sent shockwaves across the whole squad after his stunning display to single-handedly drag Argentina into the World Cup final after beating Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday.
Messi scored Argentina's opener from the spot after they were controversially awarded a penalty before embarking on a sensational dribbling run to set up Julian Alvarez's second goal to seal the win.
Messi, 35, has never won the World Cup and is desperate to end his drought by lifting the trophy on Sunday - which will be his last match in the tournament.
France boss Didier Deschamps has already addressed how his side will deal with Messi, saying they will do whatever it takes to thwart him.
'We will do everything humanly possible for that not to happen,' Deschamps told BeIN Sport when asked about Messi's bid to finally lift the trophy. 'At the end of the match, someone is getting a third star on their shirt.'
Speaking about their meeting with Messi during France's 4-3 win over Argentina in 2018, he added: 'He [Messi] actually played as a centre-forward against us, which caught us by surprise four years ago.
'Now he is in tandem, just in behind the centre-forward, he is picking up the ball a lot and he is running with it and looking in great form.
'He is one of the best players in the world and he has shown that, so of course we are going to try and counter Messi's threat and stop him influencing the game and Argentina will try and stop the influence of some of my players.
'This Argentina side is different to the one we played four years ago.
'We have two sides with a great deal of quality and it will be up to key players to make a difference, maybe the team that makes fewest mistakes will win the game.'
France's Antoine Griezmann also discussed facing Messi, saying it will be a 'totally different proposition' for the team.
'Any team with Messi in is a totally different proposition,' he said.
'We've seen Argentina play and we know how they play. They are a difficult team to play and they seem on top form. It's not only Messi. They have a strong side around them and they are going to have a lot of support in the crowd. We will be well prepared.'
France's World Cup final against Argentina kicks off at 3pm on Sunday at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.