French players deliberately poisoned before World Cup final, says journalist

British journalist Piers Morgan has made some grave accusations in relation to the recently concluded 2022 FIFA World Cup. According to him, members of the French national team squad did not fall ill because of a virus. Instead, he claims that they were deliberately poisoned in the leadup to the final against eventual champions, Argentina.

Morgan has always been known for his controversial takes on a number of current affairs, but now he has made a bold claim that won't be appreciated by anyone involved. However, he did not go so far as to put blame on anyone in particular for the alleged "poisoning."

It may be remembered that France defeated England in the quarterfinals of the global showpiece. Soon after, Les Bleus reported that at least three of their players have gotten sick.

Midfielder Adrien Rabiot was isolated in the hotel and completely missed the semi-final victory against Morocco. Centre-back Dayot Upamecano also felt under the weather and sat on the bench for the match. Then, Kingsley Coman was reported to have been feeling "feverish" before defender Raphael Varane missed the last training session ahead of the final.

Surprisingly, the players were all available just days later to face Argentina. Unfortunately, they were visibly sluggish and were completely outclassed by the eventual winners for the better part of match.

A fired-up Kylian Mbappe managed to force the match into penalties with a hat-trick, but France sent the match to a penalty shootout, which Les Bleus lost.

The poisoning theory brings back memories of Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario's health emergency ahead of the France '98 final. Contradicting reports have claimed that he suffered a seizure, a heart attack or that he was poisoned.

In any case, France boss Didier Deschamps made no reference to any poisoning possibilities and said ahead of the final that his players are very tired and their immune systems have been compromised by their rigorous schedule.

Following their defeat against Argentina, he said: "We faced a tricky situation, there was some tiredness, maybe that had a physical or psychological impact, but I had no concerns about the players who started the match, they were 100% fit."