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Defending champions France booked their place in a second consecutive World Cup final on Thursday (AEDT) after defeating the fairy tale side of Qatar 2022, Morocco, 2-0 in the semi-finals.
It was the first time that Les Bleus had kept a clean sheet at the tournament, having conceded once in every match up to that point.
Despite managing to reach the tournament's showpiece with an undermanned squad, and off the back of a string of impressive attacking displays led by joint-golden boot leader Kylian Mbappe, France have left a lot to be desired defensively in Qatar.
The Hugo Lloris-led side memorably conceded inside 10 minutes against Australia after getting caught on the counter-attack - right-back Benjamin Pavard being dropped from the starting 11 after drifting out of position and allowing Socceroos attacker Craig Goodwin a simple tap-in.
A moment of hesitancy from otherwise standout performer Raphael Varane against Tunisia allowed Wehbi Khazri to fire in the only goal of the match with ease, while his defensive partner Dayot Upamecano handballed inside the box to gift Poland a consolation goal in the Round of 16 and was lucky to get away with a clumsy challenge on England's Harry Kane at the edge of the penalty area in the quarter-finals.
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate was reinstated to the starting lineup at Upamecano's expense against Morocco, while illness also forced the change of central midfielder Youssouf Fofana in place of Adrien Rabiot.
SBS World Cup commentator Basheer believes that French head coach Didier Deschamps will now face some selection headaches for the final in the wake of Rabiot and Upamecano's possible return, while also pointing out Barcelona centre-back Jules Kounde's unexpected presence in the starting 11 as a makeshift full-back.
"I'm thinking now it's going to be pretty even because they [France] haven't been sparkling in this tournament," Basheer said of his prediction for the final.
"They've been efficient, they've got the job done - obviously they were very good against Australia and they outclassed us in that first match but it was just rolling the arm over in that one."
"That [changes] will be a temptation I think for Didier Deschamps, probably not Rabiot because he compliments Aurelien Tchouameni really well, but he'll have a little thought to start Konate in the final.
"Jules Kounde never totally convinces you at right-back, but he does the job. Whether Pavard is the safer bet, who knows. I think it's going to be an interesting selection for Deschamps, because he knows that Argentina have got that extra day. They've got real momentum because I think the best performance they've produced was in the semi-final against Croatia. So it really has levelled things up."
Basheer made mention of goalkeeper Lloris as France's key to stopping some of the defence's shortcomings throughout the tournament, as well as praising the Tottenham Hotspur man for continuing to do so upon recalling the more 'set' line-up of Russia 2018.
"His form for his club at Spurs this season hasn't been great to be honest, but he always seems to save his best in French national colours. He's one of those leaders who hates losing, he's an ultra-competitive soul and he led them superbly in 2018 when they had a very set defence and those two holding midfielders, Pogba and Kante.
"He's going to have Alvarez and Messi snapping at the heels of the back four if Argentina set up that way.
"It's going to be a fascinating final, there's so many different angles to this - remember the Round of 16 in 2018, the most entertaining match of the Russia World Cup, when Mbappe cut Argentina to pieces in that second half."
Mbappe's two second-half goals led France to a famous 4-3 victory on that occasion, being France's third victory over Argentina in their history, having drawn three and lost six against the South American outfit.
Basheer concluded that such history will play a big part in both nations' quest for winning a third World Cup title.
"It's going to be so interesting because Argentina have got that historical reference with [Diego] Maradona in '86, the way Messi's influenced this World Cup. The history and legacy of Lionel Messi in World Cup football is going to be defined in the [2022] final, really."
