France won its second world title. In the final, They still showed efficiency and realism to overcome Croatia.
Final of the France-Croatia World Cup : 4-2
Goals: Mandzukic (18th csc), Griezmann (38th sp), Pogba (59th), Mbappé (65th); Perisic (28th), Mandzukic (69th)
It is done ! For the second time in its history, France is crowned world champion. Twenty years after the band in Zidane, that of Griezmann, Mbappé, Pogba and Co went to seek the supreme title this Sunday, in Moscow. As if they did not know how to win finals by less than two goals difference, they asphyxiated the Croats on the score of 4 goals to 2. However, this result does not say all the difficulties that the men of Didier Deschamps have met during this final match, especially in the first half. But, true to its principles of play and applying to the letter his battle plan, they came out victorious by knockout of this battle and this inevitably makes this selection a deserving champion.
Luck and realism were French side
If we except the incredible error of Hugo Lloris at 4-1 and revived a slight suspense at the end of the game, the Team of France has negotiated as it should be this appointment of a lifetime. It is not certain that they knowingly decided to undergo during the first fifteen minutes of the match. But, in the end, this low time has passed without any harmful consequences, any more than the one known at the beginning of the second act. On the contrary, the men of Deschamps even managed to find the path of the nets at the end of this complicated period. And this by taking advantage of maximum success.
The first goal came in the 18th minute and was the result of Mario Mandzukic's misguided header following Antoine Griezmann's free kick. Hero of the semifinal against England, the striker of Juventus was found this time in the wrong role. He could have overhauled this mistake for a long time, but his teammate Ivan Perisic was able to quickly restore parity. In the 28th minute, the former Sochalien found the flaw of a cross shot at the entrance to the surface, after a succession of aerial duels won by his partners. It was 1-1, and it was believed trust and luck were changing sides.
But the French had the merit of not giving in to doubt. They finished better the first period and this slight jump gave a second goal. As on the first, they pushed their opponents to fault. Perisic touched the leather of the hand in the surface. A bad reflex that would have gone unnoticed if there had been no recourse to the VAR. After having seen and reviewed the pictures, Nestor Pitana, the referee of the game, indicated the white point of the area and it was Antoine Griezmann who advanced to turn the penalty. The Mâconnais is almost never missed in the exercise. And a final of Mondial was not the right moment to change the good habits. He took Subasic off course and gave his team a more than welcome advantage before the break.
Croatia has missed out on luck
Back from the locker room, and as it was predictable, the Corates rushed to the attack in the hope of equalizing as soon as possible. A conquering attitude that could quickly bear fruit if Hugo Lloris had not managed the stop it was needed on a beautiful shot by Ante Rebic (48th). Despite this missed opportunity, the checkerboard selection was not discouraged. For ten minutes, she put a lot of pressure on the French side. In vain. The last curtain has never been pierced and the Blues have once again shown their ability to resist, even when they are at worst.
Dalic's band was pushing and it was when she seemed to be at the height of her dominance that she was picked cold a third time behind. In two stages, and benefiting in turn from the factor of success with a first shot countered and a ball coming back in the feet, Paul Pogba shot Subasic with a clear shot. It was 3-1 and then 4-1 just six minutes later. The Habs took advantage of the fact that their opponents had their heads in the seal to push them even more. Kylian Mbappé took on the task of adding to the bill. It was written that the revelation of the tournament would mark the night of the final. She did it and her realization to him owed nothing to anyone with an impeccable recovery of 20 meters.
4-1, without the mistake of captain Lloris, this final would have ended on this score. Nevertheless, there will be no one to blame the latter for his momentary misery, as he has saved many times in this selection. His odd will remain anecdotal. He and his men finally won the World Cup. Without being always sovereign and being sometimes seriously rushed, but they did it with a lot of conviction and a lot of rage. These two virtues are enough to overthrow the mountains and also to settle at the top.
Vive la France 🇫🇷⭐⭐