Viva la France, France beats Croatia 4-2 in a spectacular World Cup final in Moscow, with Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe stealing the show on the grandest stage of them all.
Say what you like about the French, their style of play or lack of coordination between players, but they were the only one of the contending teams to come to Russia and prove themselves after all the giants were eliminated early on.
They delivered the what perhaps could be the best match of the tournament, 4-3 against Argentina in the second round, they gave the world the teenage breakout star in Kylian Mbappe and they had too much in one way or another for every opponent they faced.
France opened the scoring in the 18th minute with an Antoine Griezmann free kick cross that deflected off the head of Mario Mandzukic, but Ivan Perisic levelled matters ten minutes later for the Croatians.
Controversy struck ten minutes before half-time when with the use of VAR Perisic was adjudged to have handled the ball, winning France a penalty, which Griezmann converted into a goal.
Pogba extended France's lead just before the hour mark, and then Mbappe became the first teenager since Pele to score in a World Cup final to add to their advantage.
An error from Hugo Lloris gave Mandzukic the simplest of chances to nick into the net, but France held on for the last 20 minutes to claim another World Cup trophy, 20 years after winning their first in Paris in 1998.
The World Cup would conclude with the young Frenchmen posing with the trophy, marking the beginning of a new generation of football. Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović were present to congratulate the players and hand them their prizes.
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