World Cup 2018: Kylian Mbappe stars as France beat Croatia 4-2 in a final fit for a thrilling tournament | City A.M.
Ruthless French counter-attacking, bags of Croatian resolve, flashes of Kylian Mbappe brilliance, scintillating goals, even a VAR penalty: if ever a final reflected the tournament that it concluded then this was surely it.
A month of sustained thrills drew to a close in Moscow yesterday with a wildly entertaining World Cup final won by France – and a pang of sadness that the last ball of Russia 2018 had been kicked.
History was made before the curtain came down. In leading France to their second World Cup, Didier Deschamps became only the third man – after Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer – to lift the trophy as both player and manager.
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Jet-heeled Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe, meanwhile, who terrified Croatia with his lightning bursts and netted the fourth for Les Bleus, became the second teenager to score in the final, after Pele.
It was a victory to show France in their best light. Criticised for adopting conservative tactics at odds with their surfeit of attacking talent, here their sturdy rearguard and gifted creators combined to devastating effect.
Paul Pogba epitomised that balance, a disciplined role bringing the best out of the Manchester United midfielder, who capped an authoritative display with the third French goal.
Croatia, seemingly running on fumes throughout the knockout rounds, finally ran out of steam in the second half.
For the fourth match in a row they recovered from going a goal behind – in this case to an own goal from Mario Mandzukic, who later made amends with Croatia’s second – when Ivan Perisic side-stepped Ngolo Kante and lashed a left-footed shot across Hugo Lloris from 18 yards.
Parity would last 10 minutes, until shortly before half-time when Antoine Griezmann’s penalty gave France a lead they would not let go.
France were fortunate to get the penalty, with referee Nestor Pintana initially unmoved by their appeals after Blaise Matuidi ducked a corner and the ball struck Perisic on the arm in the six-yard box.
Teenager Mbappe scored France’s fourth goal (Source: Getty)
The Argentinian official was advised by the video assistant referee (VAR) to review the incident, however, and after consulting the pitch-side monitor Pintana pointed to the spot.
While tough on Perisic, it looked the correct call and Griezmann sent Danijel Subasic the wrong way.
Chasing the game left Croatia open to the counter after the interval and France took advantage.
When Mbappe streaked down the right just before the hour mark, his blocked cross eventually found its way to Pogba on the edge of the penalty box and he planted a left-footed shot past Subasic at the second attempt, having seen his first effort hit a red and white wall.
Six minutes later Mbappe found space 25 yards out and swept a low shot into the bottom left corner. It was a nonchalant finish from the prodigious talent, 19, who finished the tournament with four goals and the award for the best young player.
Deschamps is the third man to win the World Cup as player and manager (Source: Getty)
For Deschamps, this was the ultimate vindication of a playing style that won few admirers even at home before this World Cup but proved more durable than those of Belgium, Uruguay and Argentina – all overcome in the knockout stage.
He picked the safety-first Lucas Hernandez over the marauding Benjamin Mendy at left-back and persisted with Olivier Giroud in place of Ousmane Dembele’s more mercurial talents despite the Chelsea centre-forward failing to register a single shot on target in the tournament.
It was pragmatic but, crucially, it worked – and when it liberated Mbappe and Griezmann it could be breathtaking after all.
After defeat to Portugal in the final of Euro 2016, this was closure of sorts for France, though it could be just the beginning for this young team.
The World Cup-winning side of 1998 added the European Championship two years later; only a fool would bet against the class of 2018 repeating the trick at the next major tournament.