On June 18, when France tied South Korea in Leipzig, the last thing anyone expected was that Les Bleus would play for the World Cup championship three weeks later.

Here was a team that was too old, whose playmaking legend was a shell of his former self and whose high-scoring forward did little to help the offense. Here was a team that, if it didn’t beat Togo in its final game, wasn’t going to get out of the first round for the second consecutive tournament.

Now, here’s a team that is 90 minutes away from raising the most coveted trophy in sports for the second time in three tournaments.

France’s amazing, and quite unexpected, resurrection has led it to the final on Sunday against Italy. A team that couldn’t beat Switzerland or South Korea has now, in consecutive matches, defeated Spain, Brazil and Portugal, three teams that came into the World Cup with a better chance of winning the championship than France.

Much of the credit for the turnaround must go to Zinedine Zidane, who will be playing his last match Sunday. Zidane, 34, once looking every bit his age, now looks like the Zidane of his prime. His ball skills are impeccable, his set pieces perfect.

The only question seems to be whether the three days off between the semifinal and final is enough for him to get the rest he needs for his toughest match yet. And he’s not alone. This is a veteran French team that showed its age in the closing minutes against Portugal, when the opponents were throwing everything at them in pursuit of a tying goal.

Zidane is not the only relic of the amazing ‘98 team who is still making a difference. Defender Lilian Thuram, who, like Zidane, came out of international retirement for the World Cup, has sparkled in his own end, clearing dangerous balls and nimbly relieving the ball from opposing attackers.

On the other side is Italy, a team that was seen as a possible contender but perhaps too young to challenge for the World Cup, a team that also would be dogged by the specter of its nation’s match-fixing scandal. But the distraction might have helped, by pulling the players closer together and giving them a rallying point.

“So far, the scandal has stimulated us,” forward Alessandro Del Piero said. “We are well aware that it could have brought us down.”

Italy benefited from a road to the final that was decidedly easier than what the French faced. After winning its group with one blemish, a tie to the United States, the Italians were graced by having to face decided underdog Australia in the second round and overmatched Ukraine in the quarterfinals.

But in a semifinal match against host Germany, Italy showed it was for real, and coach Marcello Lippi’s commitment to attack was admirable. The Italians have to be considered the favorites to win the title, their fourth overall — putting them just one behind Brazil.

Traditionally, Italy’s strength is its defense, the catenaccio, or padlock, which denies all comers. This team is no exception. The Italians have allowed just one goal — and they put it in, during the U.S. match.

I don’t care how easy your World Cup draw is; not allowing the opposing teams to put a ball past you in six matches is impressive. The fewest goals ever allowed by a World Cup winner was two by the French in 1998. (This time around, the French have allowed only two goals, one to South Korea, one to Spain.)

The difference on this Italian team was supposed to be that it also had players who could score. But those players — particularly forward Luca Toni, the first player to score more than 30 goals in Italy’s Serie A in 47 years — haven’t produced in quantity.

But Italy is the kind of team that has found a way to win, again and again, and knows what it takes to get the necessary result. Midfielder Andrea Pirlo has been effective launching his team’s attacks, and if Francesco Totti plays the way he can, he adds to Italy’s attacking threat.

“Lippi’s team has a lot of solidarity; he’s a very intelligent coach,” Thuram said after the semifinals. “Italy used to have problems with player egos. Now they are a group that works together.”

“Italy is a team which waits and waits,” French forward Thierry Henry said. “They send you to sleep and then they score two goals in the last two minutes.”

It’s been a charmed, almost magical run for France, but it will end in defeat against Italy. The Italian defense has been impenetrable, and that unit is likely to stick to form and prevent France’s rejuvenated offense from finding a way through. While an attack-minded team like Germany might have provided a more enticing final, Italy-France still looks to be a quality game, with a lot going for it. There are tremendous individual talents on both teams.

When this whole thing began, I picked the Italians to win it all and, having gotten this far, I’m going to stick with them. In a game of opportunistic offenses, Italy will find a way. Plus, Italy has an edge in goal with Gianluigi Buffon over Fabien Barthez, who has a knack for bobbling balls.

And Italy needs this. On Monday, a sports tribunal in Rome is expected to hand down rulings in the match-fixing scandal (which involves team management, not players). Juventus, the most storied of Italian teams — five likely starters, three for Italy, two for France, play for Juve — could be relegated to the country’s third division and stripped of the titles it has won the past two seasons.

Italian soccer might look very different in the next few years. With a dark day on the horizon, the players know they are holding a ray of light to carry the nation through the tough soccer times that lie ahead.

“It’s inevitable not to think a little bit about what is happening back home, but my priority is Sunday’s final,” Del Piero said. “I think Juve will be well represented on Sunday, and I hope that the Italians and the Juve fans will be able to smile. After Monday I can think about my future and the club’s situation.”

In the meantime, there should be one last celebration.