FIFA WORLD CUP 2018: France end 20 year wait

MOSCOW: France Manager Didier Deschamps became the first man ever to win the coveted World Cup trophy as both captain and manager of the same team when his French side lifted the World Cup trophy amidst the rain in Moscow following a 4-2 win over first time finalists Croatia, thus ending the 20 years wait for the French.

In what was a scintillating display of end to end attacking football, the French fresh from the Bastille day celebrations were given another reason to light up the Champs-Elysee  as the French Football team ran riot in Moscow. Old wounds of the Euro 2016 were finally stitched up as Captain Lloris lifted the trophy that branded them as World Champions for the next 4 years.

Juventus and Croatian Forward Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring for the French team when he headed Antoinne Greizman’s freekick into his own net in the 5^th minute. Croatia responded quickly, and finally found the equalizer when Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic blasted in an amazing effort past Hugo Lloris to make it 1-1 in the 28th minute. However, his heroic effort was soon undermined when VAR judged him to have handled the ball which lead to Greizman extending France’s lead before half time to 2.

France started the second half on the upper hand making use of their advantage and the unwavering speed of PSG star Kylian Mbappe, who was a menace for the Croatian defense. A momentary lapse in concentration by the Croatians allowed Manchester United star Paul Pogba to curl a beautiful goal past Subasic to extend Frances lead and cue the celebrations back home. Kylian Mbappe further extended the wounds for the Croatians when his effort from outside the box also ended in the back of the Croatian net giving them an unassailable 4-1 lead; making him the second youngest scorer in a World Cup final after Brazilian Legend Pele. There was a glimmer of hope when Manduzkic scored on the other end this time latching on to France Captain Hugo Lloris’s mistake, however the Croatians failed to utilize the momentum and France were crowned World Champions.

This was the first final since the 2002 World Cup which ended in the regulatory 90 minutes and the highest scoring final with a score line of 4-2. French Wonder Kid Mbappe won the Young Player of the Tournament award, with Croatian Captain Luka Modric winning the Best Player award. Harry Kane of England finished as the top scorer with 6 goals with Belgium number 1 Courtiois winning the Golden Glove.

As the curtains drop in Russia, all eyes look ahead to Qatar 2022, where 32 teams will once again fight for the coveted title of football royalty.