Putting an end to its 20-year-long wait, France on Sunday won its second FIFA World Cup title after defeating Croatia 4-2 in a high-octane final at the Luzhniki Stadium here.
In a tournament filled with dramatic ups and downs, France stood tall in the end, keeping cool at all times despite not being in its sublime form in the group stage.
France took a lead in the 18th minute after Mario Mandzukic scored an own goal while heading away a free kick from Antoine Griezmann.
However, Ivan Perisic?s super strike soon found an equaliser for Croatia, after he received a super pass from centre back Domagoj Vida.
The high-voltage final later witnessed a major twist in the 38th minute, as the referee gave France a penalty after Perisic's arm was not in a natural position as the ball struck his hand.
Griezmann converted the penalty into a goal after sending the Croatian goalkeeper the wrong way.
Following that, midfielder Paul Pogba?s top corner in the 59th minute and Kylian Mbappe?s low strike in the 65th minute took the momentum away from Croatia and gave France a 4-1 lead.
Mandzukic did manage to decrease Croatia?s defect as he scored a goal in the 69th minute.
Thereafter, Croatia started to panic as they couldn?t manage to take the ball past French goalkeeper Lloris, with the match ultimately culminating in celebrations for the French side.
Here are some of the interesting stats after 2018 World Cup France vs Croatia:
Number of goals scored on Sunday – 6 – the most in a World Cup final. It has surpassed 1958 World Cup’s final five goals.
France’s Mbappe (19y 207d) scored the fourth goal on Sunday and by doing so he became only the second teenage to score in a World Cup final since Pele (17y 249d) in 1958 for Brazil.
Mario Mandzukic’s own goal opened the score chart on Sunday which made him the first player to score an own goal in a World Cup final.
Mario Mandzukic also is just the second player in World Cup history to score a goal for his side and an own goal in a single game, after Ernie Brandts for the Netherlands versus Italy in 1978.
France’s Paul Pogba, who scored the third goal on Sunday, became the first Manchester United player to score in a World Cup final.
This is the first World Cup final that saw as many as three goals before half-time since 1974 (West Germany 2-1 Netherlands).
France’s head coach Didier Deschamps became the third person after Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer to win the FIFAWC as both a player and coach.
