France vs Croatia World Cup Final Review

France 4-2 Croatia

France won the Fifa World Cup for the second time in their history by beating a bold Croatia team in an absolutely thrilling final in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
Didier Deschamps' side repeated the success on home soil at France '98 by four goals to two. A scoreline that nobody would have predicted, especially after 60 minutes.
The French victory meant that Deschamps who captained the national team 20 years ago, became just the third man to win the competition as a player and coach.
Croatia would also feel as if luck was against them, but in the end, it was France who ran out victorious to put memories of the loss to Portugal in the Euro 2016 final in Paris aside and celebrate World Champions status.
It was certainly one of the most exciting World Cup finals of the modern era, and played out to a soundtrack of thunderstorms, Croatia and France delivered an enthralling spectacle that brought the joint highest goal tally in a World Cup final since 1958, a pitch invasion, and a controversial intervention from VAR had a huge influence on the outcome and added to the thrill of the most prestigious game in the world. 
It was France who took the lead after 18 minutes, when Antoine Griezmann's free-kick was deflected in off Mario Mandzukic's head, yet it was Croatia who were by far the better side in the first half and it cannot be argued that they didn't deserve their equaliser, courtesy of Ivan Perisic's left-foot finish.
It was Croatia who would certainly feel a burning sense of injustice, when France restored their lead seven minutes before half-time through Griezmann's history making penalty, awarded by referee Nestor Pitana for handball against Perisic after a long delay while VAR was consulted.
A compelling second half saw France bury two strikes in six minutes from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe either side of the hour mark, yet an undeterred Croatia team continued to show an unbreakable spirit and when Mario Mandzukic took advantage of a huge France blunder, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris hesitated over a clearance and allowed Croatia to pull a goal back.
France however, closed out the win to bring redemption for Deschamps, the defeat at the home based Euros two years ago, sparked wild celebrations and ensuring Lloris lifted the World Cup.

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