After a lengthy dispute, no media outlet could convince the other until the match officially began.
However, before that, a very crucial step needed to be taken: the draw ceremony.
For the World Cup, the draw is of paramount importance; a favorable draw determines whether a team can advance to the knockout stage.
Take the Am team four years ago, for instance. Although a second-tier team, they were guaranteed to be in a group with a first-tier and a third-tier team.
But if this first-tier team was from Africa, and the third seed was from the Americas, then the Am team would have at least a 70% chance of qualifying.
However, the Am team faced a European first-tier team and an African third seed, ultimately crashing out in the group stage.
Now that the Am team has become a first-tier team, they no longer need to worry about facing those super strong teams. The only concern is the second seed in the group. If this second seed is from Europe, then the Am team is still quite vulnerable.
After all, Europe is where many powerhouses reside, and there is only one qualification spot from the group. Countless past group stage matches have proven that a European second seed is more than capable of eliminating the first-tier teams from other continents and securing that crucial knockout stage spot.
Soon, the draw results were out. The good news was that this time, the second-tier team in the group was not from Europe, but from Africa, the Cameroonian team. Looking at past records, the Am team had a significant advantage over them.
But the bad news was that they still encountered a European team, which was the third-tier team in the group, Poland, from Europe.
The strength of the Polish team was actually quite astonishing because many players in the squad played in European leagues. When the total market value of all players on the team was calculated, it was found to be the fourth highest globally, only behind France, Germany, and Brazil. Judging solely by player market value, it seemed to be the fourth best in the world.
However, Poland's performance was very inconsistent. Their results in recent years had not been great, and they had repeatedly suffered defeats in the World Cup qualifiers.
The Poles, however, had an explanation for this, stating that although they had many star players, these stars were too scattered, with few opportunities to play together. They only trained together for a few months when the national team was assembled, making it difficult to develop synchronized cooperation, which led to their bumpy qualification for the World Cup, barely scraping through.
But the strength of their players was evident, and after the World Cup qualifiers concluded, the Football Association even ordered all players to forgo their holidays and collectively participate in a five-month special training program. Therefore, the current Polish team's cohesion and strength had definitely improved significantly, making it an easy task to secure the top spot in the group.
This kind of statement was quickly spread on Chinese networks, causing widespread anxiety among Chinese netizens. After all, Poland's market value was there, and it was possible that they might snatch the qualification spot.
Compared to the worries of Chinese fans, Korean fans began to stir again because the Korean team had drawn an exceptionally favorable group this time.
Although the Korean team was only a second-tier team this time, they had drawn a first-tier team from Africa, the Tunisian national team.
The third-tier team was from South America, Venezuela, who were making their first appearance in the World Cup.
Such a draw was considered a divine gift for the Koreans. As long as they could defeat Tunisia, a seemingly not-so-strong team, the Korean team would smoothly advance to the knockout stage.
In contrast, the Chinese were considered incredibly unlucky.
With these worried thoughts, the head coach of the Am team led the main players to the pre-match press conference, which was the only opportunity to interview the Am team before the entire competition.
It was said that to ensure the players could fully concentrate on the game, the Am team strictly limited players' movements from the team's base and did not allow any player to accept any interviews. The team itself also did not accept any media interviews. Therefore, the only opportunities to interview the Am team were the pre-match interviews and post-match interviews, which all teams were required to attend.
The Am team's first match was against the African team Cameroon. The head coach on the bench was naturally the former king of football, Messi.
After taking on the role of head coach for the Am team, Messi had adapted to the local customs and changed into traditional Chinese attire. Combined with the unique weathered demeanor of an older man, Messi seemed even more handsome in front of the cameras.
Messi's response to the media's questions was very appropriate and comprehensive. Until someone asked Messi how confident he was that the Am team could defeat Cameroon, Messi smiled and said, "As long as my players don't make the same mistake I made 12 years ago, I think we can win this match!"
Messi's words elicited laughter from the entire room. 12 years ago, in the 2022 World Cup, was the most glorious moment of Messi's life. After all, he had won the World Cup trophy in that tournament and was recognized as the king of football worldwide. He was the third universally acknowledged king of football after Pelé and Ronaldo.
Even Kaká at the time did not achieve such an honor, and neither did Mbappé, currently the world's highest-valued player at his peak, qualify as the king of football.
Even though Mbappé had won every possible honor in the world, and in some aspects even surpassed Messi, he had still not become the universally acknowledged king of football because he had not won the World Cup title.
Some might question, Mbappé clearly won the 2018 World Cup, so how can it be said that he hasn't won the World Cup?
However, Mbappé was not the absolute protagonist in the French team in 2018. He did not have a brilliant shot that made the world remember him. He was just a young upstart who had just joined the French team. Although he scored many goals, fans at the time did not remember Mbappé, even though he was part of the championship-winning French team.
Therefore, in the general view of the audience, the 2018 World Cup title belonged to the entire French team. The French team at that time was too strong.
But Messi in 2022 was different. After countless ups and downs, Messi, at the age of over thirty, led a group of young players to win the World Cup championship. This scene deeply moved countless people around the world, and his achievements were impeccable, making almost all fans worldwide willingly acknowledge his title as the king of football.
And now, it was Mbappé's turn.
The current situation was almost a repeat of the 2022 World Cup. Messi, who had won every honor in the world, was missing only the World Cup title. But Messi was now 35 years old and had entered a low point in his life. In the two years before the World Cup, he had become a universally reviled figure in Argentina.
This World Cup was the last World Cup of his career; he needed this tournament to draw a perfect conclusion to his life.
And it was the same for Mbappé now. Mbappé in 2034 had also won almost every championship in the world. Messi had dominated the world for 12 years, and then he dominated for another 12 years.
Mbappé, born in 1998, was now 36 years old, one year older than Messi was at the time. This was also the last World Cup of his life.
However, France's performance in the previous two World Cups had been too disappointing.
These two World Cups had both advantages and disadvantages for Mbappé. The advantage was that there was no one stronger in the French team, making Mbappé the undisputed star. He was single-handedly dragging the entire French team forward. If he could win the World Cup title in these two instances, then Mbappé's title as the king of football would be legitimate and impeccable.
The bad news was that the French team was simply too terrible, and Mbappé alone was starting to struggle to carry them.
In the 2026 World Cup, France reached the semi-finals again, but unfortunately, they encountered a resurgent Brazil and were sent home with a 3-0 defeat.
In 2030, France regrouped, but in the round of 16, they met Spain, who were hailed as the strongest Spain in history, and were again defeated 3-0.
Fortunately, Spain eventually won the World Cup, allowing the French fans to claim they had lost to the champions, which was equivalent to finishing as runners-up, thus preventing France from facing widespread embarrassment.
And now Mbappé was back, and the French team this time had many new players, much like Argentina back then.
Everyone said that France was trying to replicate Argentina's miracle from that year, leading a group of young and spirited players to win the World Cup championship under the guidance of a few experienced veterans.
When Messi proactively mentioned a match from 12 years ago, everyone could not help but recall the events of 12 years ago and how similar the present situation was.
In fact, 12 years ago, the Argentine team was not favored at all. In their first match, they even lost to Saudi Arabia. At that time, everyone thought Argentina was finished. But who could have imagined that Argentina would eventually win the World Cup?
Therefore, in the understanding of all media reporters, Messi's proactive mention of that first match 12 years ago indicated that in Messi's opinion, the Am team was stronger than their opponent Cameroon. As long as the Am team did not lose to their opponent due to various foolish mistakes, like Argentina did back then, victory was a foregone conclusion.
"Is there a possibility that Messi is saying that the Am team also has the strength to win the World Cup?" an Italian sports commentator said with a laugh while watching the live broadcast of the press conference. His comment, however, triggered over 10,000 bullet comments of criticism and mockery.
But later, it was precisely because of this comment that he achieved legendary status.