France coach Didier Deschamps admits he is “immensely proud” after his side defeated Morocco 2-0 to book their place in the World Cup final for the second time.

“I am immensely proud. It is great to be through to the final but it was not an easy victory,” Deschamps said.

“We needed a mixture of quality, experience and team spirit, and in difficult periods we had to dig deep but I am really satisfied and proud of my players.”

After Brazil’s 1958 and 1962 resounding victories, France hopes to become the first team in 60 years to repeat as World Cup champions.

But they’ll have to get ready to face an Argentine team inspired by Messi all the way to the final, and they’ll be out for revenge after losing 4-3 to the same team in the round of 16 four years ago.

“Messi has been in scintillating form since the start of the tournament,” Deschamps admitted.

“Four years ago things were different. He played as a centre forward, whereas now he is playing in a front two or just in behind the striker.

“He looks in great shape and of course he is one of the best players in the world so we will try to counter Messi’s threat as much as possible, just as Argentina will try to stop the influence of some of my players.”