How Qatar won with a France-Argentina final

Qatar has provided fans with one of the best World Cups you can remember.

From thrillers to upsets to redemption stories - this World Cup has had it all.

Although the host nation Qatar didn't do well on the pitch, losing all of their group stage matches, and being the first host nation to have that record, the Argentina versus France final is one that will be a victory for them.

You see, that is because two of Argentina's and France's biggest stars, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, play for Paris Saint-Germain - a club owned by Qatar Sports Investment (QSI).

QSI has always been looking for players to add to their club that could be poster boys for this World Cup and that started with the record acquisition of Brazil superstar Neymar from Barcelona. 

The 222 million Euros transfer in August 2017 easily remains the most expensive transfer in football history, and might remain the case for the foreseeable future but QSI had a plan with that.

They knew that Neymar and Brazil would be one of the best teams and favourites for the World Cup and they needed their club and organisation to be represented there. 

The Neymar deal was followed up by another massive transfer - that of Kylian Mbappe for a whopping 175 million Euros from Monaco.

Mbappe would go on to star for France and win the World Cup in 2018 and that certainly bore fruit for QSI's spending.

But they didn't stop there, when the opportunity to sign Lionel Messi on a free came up at the beginning of last season, they didn't hesitate to sign the Barcelona legend up.

And now look, a final with two PSG stars and two of the best players in the tournament vying for the greatest prize in world football. 

Although PSG would like to add a Champions League trophy to their cabinet for sure, having players that have won the World Cup in their ranks will also make them happy.

The future though with Mbappe and Messi remains up in the air.

There was a massive effort from Real Madrid to sign Mbappe in the summer but PSG kept hold of him by giving him a salary of 72 million Euros a year, a world record.

Messi isn't far behind earning over 63 million Euros a year while Neymar earns 56 million. 

That's three of the highest-paid footballers in the world right there, and there is a chance that all three might leave by the end of this season.

Messi will decide on his future with PSG after the World Cup, and although the QSI-owned club would like to keep him for longer, he is attracting interest from LA Galaxy in MLS and could go there. 

Real Madrid could come in again for Mbappe this summer and this time, PSG might want to let him go.

Apart from his wages, there are rumours that Mbappe doesn't want Neymar in the team and PSG might want to make big money from the Mbappe sale after spending close to 400 million Euros on the Mbappe-Neymar duo. 

Speaking of Neymar, he could attract interest from the Premier League with Chelsea being previously linked and that could result in him leaving.

There are also reports and rumours that QSI might leave the PSG project altogether once the Qatar World Cup is over but that seems a far-fetched one at the moment (though you never know in football these days). 

Whatever the case, this has been a big win for Qatar, after organising a fantastic tournament and showing the world what they are capable of.