A month after Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia to open the World Cup, France took advantage of its chances and was crowned world champions for the second time. Those high-scoring matches bookended a tournament in which there were 169 World Cup goals. With 12 of those resulting from own goals, there were 157 goals where the celebration wasn't marred by an untimely mistake.
Croatia President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is now one of the most famous people on the planet because she likes football, hugging people and is able to gleefully stand under heavy rain. Naturally, Grabar-Kitarović is also a prominent and capable politician, but it was her warmth and personal charisma that made her an instant global celebrity at the 2018 World Cup Final.
Pussy Riot, the notorious Russian punk rock activist group, staged a show of defiance during the World Cup final between France and Croatia on Sunday. Four of the group’s members, one man and three women disguised in police uniform, ran onto the pitch during the 52nd minute of the second half before being chased and dragged out by security.
Croatia players and manager Zlatko Dalic were gracious in defeat yesterday, admitting that France deserved the victory following second half goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. However, the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic still left traces of disgust and defiance in their words when discussing the final’s turning points, particularly the VAR-assisted handball call against Ivan Perisic that sent Antoine Griezmann to the spot in the 38th minute.
That was a really ridiculous World Cup final. After getting extra time and a total of four goals at the last three World Cup finals, the 2018 event was a bit of magic theater. (“Not for everybody.”)
19-year-old France forward Kylian Mbappe put the finishing touches on a blistering World Cup campaign Sunday after scoring his fourth goal of the tournament — the PSG phenom entered the competition with just four international goals to his name.
With his strike long-range strike against Croatia in the 65th minute, Mbappe joined Pele as the only teenager to have scored in a World Cup final. Pele, at the age of 17, scored a brace as Brazil defeated Sweden 5-2 in the final of the 1958 World Cup.
Here’s the goal from Mbappe that effectively buried Croatia today.
With France ceding 66 percent of possession to Croatia in the World Cup final, it should come as no surprise that the top five players in the match with regards to touches were all Croatian. It perhaps goes some way towards explaining the general belief that Croatia looked better than France for large swaths of the game given the amount of influence that both Luka Modric (89 touches) and Ivan Rakitic (85) had on the game.
If those two are allowed space and time on the ball, Croatia's going to look really, really good.
With France nursing a 2-1 lead at halftime of the 2018 World Cup Final, Croatia was forced to go in search of an equalizer against the planet’s premier counter attacking side.
N’Golo Kanté is, in many respects, the best defensive player in the world because of the amount of turf the midfielder covers, combined with his tactical acumen, speed and tackling ability. But the Ivan Perišić goal vs France made Kanté look like a schoolboy.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup Final opened with Croatia’s high press and positive play causing all sorts of problems for France. The opening 15 minutes was dominated by the perceived underdogs, and that pressure was only relieved when Antoine Griezmann won a foul in a dangerous area just outside Croatia’s box.
In realtime, the Atletico Madrid striker appeared to get bowled over. Referee Nestor Pitana whistled for a free kick but replays revealed that it had been an expert piece of simulation from Griezmann — it was a dive, plain and simple.