Two years after suffering heartbreak on home soil in the European Championships, France wouldn’t leave the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia empty-handed.
France used two goals in each half to power past Croatia, 4-2, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow to earn its second World Cup crown. Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe scored in addition to an own goal for Didier Deschamps’ side.
The first half presented us a cornucopia of events that perfectly encapsulated the events over the last month in Russia.
The 12th own goal of the tournament, came off a set piece of course, as Antoine Griezmann’s free kick glanced off the head of Mario Mandzukic in the 18th minute.
An exquisite piece of skill from Ivan Perisic 10 minutes later continued yet another World Cup trend, as Croatia battled back from a goal down. The ball bounced in and around the box before it landed at the boot of Perisic, who took his first touch at the top of the penalty area to set up a beautiful left-footed strike that escaped the reach of a diving Hugo Lloris.
Although own goals and set pieces have been thrust into the spotlight at the World Cup, nothing’s been more controversial than the usage of VAR, and that completed the Russian World Cup trifecta in the 38th minute. After it was ruled Perisic handled the ball off a corner kick, Griezmann stepped to the spot and handed Les Bleus a 2-1 advantage heading into halftime.
With Croatia pushing forward in search of a second equalizer, France slammed the door shut on another comeback in the 60th minute, when Paul Pogba blasted an attempt from the top of the box past Danijel Subasic. Pogba’s initial shot was blocked, but he got the ball right back and hammered home.
As if that wasn’t enough for France, Kylian Mbappe added on to the onslaught five minutes later, as the 19-year-old lashed a shot into the left side of the net.
However, the teenager’s strike wasn’t the last tally recorded in the contest, as an inexcusable blunder from Hugo Lloris kept Croatia’s comeback hopes alive. Lloris tried to work the ball around Mandzukic, but instead it made contact with the Croatian forward’s boot and the underdogs moved back within two goals.
Despite chasing the game after the second goal, Croatia wasn’t able to find a third or fourth to challenge the two-time World Cup champion further.