Final: France 4, Croatia 2
Croatia finally found a deficit it couldn’t overcome. On the 20th anniversary of its only other World Cup win, France snagged a second title. One game after Belgium complained about the French playing “anti-football” by packing it in on defense, the Les Bleus poured in four goals, tied for second-most in a World Cup final, led by its three biggest stars: Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba.
PENALTY FOR FRANCE
Meanwhile, the referee is consulting VAR for a long time for a possible penalty review for handball. Greizmann set to take the review as the VAR clears it. Interestingly, France has never lost when Greizmann has scored. Unsurprisingly, he scores. According to statistician site Opta Joe, this is the first World Cup final to see as many as three goals before half-time since 1974 (West Germany 2-1 Netherlands).
PERISIC EQUALISES
Ivan Perisic evens it after a quick yellow card for Kante in the 27′. The French defender tripped Varane after in an effort to try and contain Perisic’s run. Perisic dinked the ball past the French defense before kicking it into the middle of the net.
FIRST OWN GOAL
The first ever own goal in a World Cup final by Croatia’s Mandzukic. An 18′ free kick awarded after Griezmann goes down under a challenge of Brozovic from a dangerous spot. This is not the first time that Croatia will be coming up from behind to try and win a game in this World Cup. It was the 12th own goal of the World Cup, an all-time record. It was the first goal in regulation in a World Cup final since 2006 the 2010 and 2014 finals were both extra time 1-0 results
After a month of battling, it has arrived. The 2018 World Cup final is set for Sunday at 11 a.m. ET as one of the pre-cup favourites France takes on stunning finalist Croatia for the biggest trophy in the sport. France goes for its second title, while Croatia aims to become just the ninth team ever to win the World Cup.
France XI: Hugo Lloris; Lucas Hernandez, Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane, Benjamin Pavard; Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante; Blaise Matuidi, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe; Olivier Giroud.
Croatia XI: Danijel Subasic; Ivan Strinic, Domagoj Vida, Dejan Lovren, Sime Vrsaljko; Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric; Ivan Perisic, Mario Manduzkic, Ante Rebic.
