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France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final of the 2018 World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday to lift their second title in 20 years. A penalty from Antoine Griezmann, and goals from Paul Pogba, and Kylian Mbappe after an own goal from Mario Mandzukic saw Les Bleus seal victory.
Croatia did manage to make a game of it with goals from Ivan Perisic and Mandzukic (who scored at the right end in the second half). But in the end, Didier Deschamps' substitutions were key to ensuring they ran out winners.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 Croatia start on the stronger foot with the press
Any doubts that lingered over whether Croatia would start conservatively having played three 120-minute games on the trot were put to bed as soon as the match kicked off.
Zlatko Dalic had clearly told his players to press the French players when they had the ball and the team pressed as a formidable unit, denying the midfielders of both space and time on the ball.
While Paul Pogba was able to wriggle out of trouble or win a foul, N'Golo Kante was also targeted and dispossessed while Kylian Mbappe was not allowed to switch on his afterburners on the right flank.
This allowed Croatia to mount a few attacks of their own - especially down the flanks - and it was only some last-ditch defending from Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti that kept them at bay and prevented shots on target.
#2 Mandzukic's error swiftly corrected by Perisic at the other end
Although it was Croatia who started on the front foot, it was France that got the early breakthrough - thanks to a stroke of luck.
A foul won by Antoine Griezmann after he was brought down by Marcelo Brozovic saw France win a set-piece 28 yards from goal (I say "foul won" but, in truth, Griezmann was already on his way down before Brozovic made contact).
France had already scored through set-pieces against Uruguay and Belgium, and this time Griezmann floated in a cross that was headed home by Mandzukic who had little idea of what he was doing as he made contact with the ball.
However, Croatia were quick to respond to going 1-0 down with a set-piece of their own. Modric floated in a superb ball to Vrsaljko on the right who headed it back into the box. France did not touch the ball in a sequence of small passes.
It finally fell kindly to Ivan Perisic who was on hand to fire a fierce left-footed volley past the outstretched hand of Hugo Lloris to make it 1-1.
#3 VAR rescues France in poor first-half performance
France clearly struggled to create chances in the first half with Mbappe stifled, Olivier Giroud easily handled by Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida, and Griezmann unable to influence proceedings.
Didier Deschamps' side struggled to move the ball forward as Croatia cut down passing lanes and even double-teamed players such as Pogba who tried to advance the ball forward. Les Bleus were simply not allowed to string more than three passes together.
Although they were threatening on set-pieces, it was yet another stroke of luck that saw them extend their lead. A corner sent in was blocked at the near post by Ivan Perisic but he had used his hand to block the ball.
French players protested and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) immediately came into the picture. Whether Perisic's movement of the hand looked involuntary or not, it was the kind of handballs that are given in the box when they impede the ball's trajectory.
Griezmann had no qualms about stepping up and putting away the spot-kick to make it 2-1 to France. It was a cruel way to go down for Croatia who had seven shots in the first half alone.
At the break, France were leading 2-1 with just one shot on target.
#4 Kante has a shocker before France's one-two sucker punch
N'Golo Kante's yellow card in the first half when he had cynically stopped a Croatia counter-attack with a deliberate foul had clearly had an effect on the French midfielder. The Chelsea man was nowhere close to his usual best after the booking.
The game seemed to bypass Kante every time Croatia moved forward with the likes of Perisic and Rebic drifting wide and dragging Kante out of position. After 55 minutes, Deschamps had seen enough and rightly hooked him off to bring on Steven N'Zonzi.
France wrestled back midfield control and, with Croatia pouring men forward in search of an equaliser, Mbappe started to find space for one-on-one battles with Strinic on the flank.
Paul Pogba found him with a beauty of a ball that released Mbappe and it was the Manchester United midfielder who eventually saw the ball fall to him. His first shot was blocked but a second chance allowed him to beat Subasic with a left-footed strike.
Even before Croatia could recover, six minutes later Mbappe had his moment of glory. Shaping up for a curler into the top corner, Mbappe changed his position at the very last moment to drag his shot to Subasic's right to make it 4-1.
#5 Hugo Lloris' error not enough for Croatia to mount a comeback as Deschamps sees the match out
Hugo Lloris is one of those goalkeepers who invariably makes a silly error in a big game but that usually happens when he wears a Tottenham Hotspur shirt. His mistakes with the Lilywhites have cost them in the Premier League and he chose the World Cup final to make yet another one.
A simple back-pass from Umtiti saw Lloris control the ball as Mandzukic attempted to close him down. But instead of clearing it immediately, Lloris tried to dribble his way out of trouble and Mandzukic only had to stick a foot out to deflect the ball into an open goal.
It was a comical error - one you would not expect to see on the grandest stage of all. With 20 minutes to go, the goal seemed to lift Croatia's spirits and their continuous onslaught on France's goal forced Deschamps into substitutions to move the ball out of their own third.
Matuidi and Giroud were withdrawn and on came Corentin Tolisso and Nabil Fekir. It allowed France to see the game out and keep the ball under pressure as Croatia failed to make that small period of domination count.
By the full-time whistle, France had won their second World Cup title with coach Didier Deschamps lifting it 20 years after he had led Les Bleus to the title in Paris.
