This has been one of the more enjoyable FIFA World Cups in recent memory. Every game seem to have a story line and the games didn't disappoint either. It felt like there were goals galore and a bunch of upsets littered throughout the tournament. At the end of the tournament, the finals was between a young upstart France vs the golden generation of Croatia. France had a more talented side from front to back, but Croatia were no slouch with their world class midfield led by the likes of Luka Modrid and Ivan Rakitic. France's midfield pairing of N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba were up to the challenge as they were undefeated as a starting pair.
This tournament also saw the introduction of VAR, which directly resulted in several more penalty kicks given during the run of play. And also indirectly increased the number of goals off set pieces as any excessive physical contact could be reviewed. The game started with Croatia on the front foot with the majority of the ball possession and playing a lot of crosses in front the wide areas. France soaked up the pressure as they had done in many games this tournament and eventually pressed forward. A free kick was won on the right side of the pitch, perfect for Antoine Griezmann to play an in swinging ball into the box. With the ball in the air, France defender Raphael Varane darting across the box to try to get a deflection but narrowly missed. The flying french man was enough of a distraction that Mario Mandzukic mistimed his clearance and the ball grazed off his head and past Danijel Subasic for an own goal. There have been several own goals this tournament and it was sort of fitting that the 1st goal of the Finals was another one.
The early goal did not seem to slow down the game as Croatia went back on attack France deeper and deeper. It seemed like Croatia's game plan was to get the ball wide and play crosses into the box for the French defense to deal with. More and more players were probing and advancing into the box. A clearance came back out to the top of the box, but instead of trying to hit it first time, Ivan Perisic controlled it with a beautiful touch and let off a rocket with his left foot to level the game at 1-1. 30 minutes into the game and we already had 2 goals in this exciting World Cup Finals.
I probably jinx'd it but VAR hasn't really been used in the knockout phase. France had another set piece with a corner on the right side. Griezmann played another in swinger to the near post which was flicked on by Olivier Giroud and Perisic, who was almost directly behind him, jumped and while his arm was coming down, he knocked the football down and then cleared it. Instantly, French players were in an uproar and asking the referee to go to VAR. After a small pause, he went to VAR and gave French a penalty kick. Griezmann stepped up in one of the most pressure filled situation and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner after the goalkeeper dove to the right. The VAR assisted penalty kick left a little bit of a salty feeling going into half.
Croatia have been down before, but never twice in the same game. France knew that a 2-1 lead was not safe and so they made changes and did not sit back. They attacked Croatia and put a lot of pressure on the defense. Croatia were putting their body on the line to block crosses and shots, On one of the plays early in the second half, Paul Pogba was at the top of the box and he shot the ball with his right foot, which was blocked but it came right back to him. While everyone else sort of froze for a second, Pogba quickly switched feet and unleashed a shot with his left foot that flew right into the back of the net. The goalkeeper and all the defenders were left frozen as Pogba ran towards the corner flag to celebrate. They was very deflating for Croatia as the uphill battle was slowly getting away from them.
A few minutes later, France was still looking to press on and attack, while Croatia looked a bit off. A slow counter attack started to develop on the left side. The ball was played up the pitch and eventually came back into the centre to Kylian Mbappe. He controlled the ball outside the box and was given too much space to riffle a shot with his right foot into the bottom left corner of the net. The goalie was too slow to react and did not have a chance with the power and precision the ball was hit with. Mbappe became only the second teenager to score in a FIFA World Cup Finals; joining the legend Pele who did it for Brazil 60 years earlier in 1958. It was now a mountain that Croatia had to climb to come back from 4-1 down.
Croatia looked a little heavy legged this game and it could easily be cause by the 3 extra time games that they played in the previous knockout rounds. France were confident and looking to control the remaining part of the game with possession. A harmless back pass to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris saw him control it as he was looking to clear it or pass it with his right foot. Mandzukic was barreling down on him to apply some pressure and he thought that he was close enough to block a clearing attempt, so instead he went for the back heel wrap around to create space. Mandzukic actually predicted this and stuck out his foot to deflect the wrap around directly in the net and give Croatia a little bit of hope. The score was still 4-2, but there was still 20 minutes left and crazier things have happened. This small blunder by Lloris was a wake up call for France to not let their guard down and they saw out the game without any real danger. The final score was 4-2 for France, who are now the 2018 FIFA World Cup Champions!
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