'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Football's biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup 2018 finally came to end and it was France, who emerged Victorious after beating Croatia 4-2. Goals from Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, and Kylian Mbappe and an own Goal from Mario Mandzukic were enough to seal the deal for the Frenchmen as Croatia succumbed to a late onslaught by Les Blues.
It was a fitting finale to one of the greatest ever World Cup and this World Cup will be cherished for some major changes as well as some breathtaking footballing action. There were loads of surprises, goals, as well as some controversial decisions. But more importantly, there are a few things for which this World Cup will be remembered for.
So, without further ado, here are the 3 things which make this World Cup worth remembering:
#3 VAR
In a historic turn of events, FIFA decided to introduce VAR in the FIFA World Cup 2018 in order to reduce the errors caused by human intervention. It was approved during the FIFA council meeting on 16th March 2018. This tournament thus became the first tournament to use VAR at all matches and in all venues.
Interestingly, France became the first team to have benefitted from VAR, when they were awarded a penalty during their first group stage match against Australia.
Les Blues also owes a fair bit of their success in the World Cup final to VAR since they were awarded the penalty in the final against Croatia, which put them back on the driver's seat as they went into the half-time holding onto a precious lead.
As per FIFA, VAR had an accuracy of 99.3 per cent during the group stages, up from the 95 per cent of correct calls by referees without VAR. But there has been some criticism regarding its use. One such argument against VAR is the fact that reviews are entirely based upon referee's discretion.
So the teams have no say in determining the incident for review. But still, VAR implementation has been a massive success and it will be interesting to see the same in the upcoming club competitions, particularly the UEFA Champions League.
#2 Own goals and penalties
FIFA World Cup 2018 became the second highest goalscoring tournament of all time with 169 goals, falling just 2 goals short of the previous record set during the 2014 and the 1998 World Cups. But this time around, a huge chunk of goals scored is accredited to own goals and penalties, which is absurd, to say the least.
During the World Cup 2018, a total of 34 goals were scored via own goals and penalties, which roughly amounts to 20 per cent of the total goals scored, which are the highest at a World Cup. Most importantly, many of these goals were scored at a crucial juncture of the match, which ultimately changed the complexion of the match.
One such instance was the Mario Mandzukic own goal during the World Cup final, which was pivotal in setting the tone for Les Blues, who were crumbling under a terrific Croatian Onslaught. In the quarterfinal between Spain and Russia, both the goals were scored via an own goal and a penalty respectively.
Although, in general, penalties and own goals are not among the things which are worth remembering, it's the decisiveness of these goals, which will be etched among the hearts of the football fans for years to come.
#1 Major upsets
Since its inception, the FIFA World Cup has been among the most celebrated sporting event across the World. A total of 32 teams from 5 confederations has been participating in the tournament since 1998 and although the tournament has been dominated by a few countries such as Brazil, Germany etc, for the first time in a major tournament, it was felt that the gap between the traditional powerhouses and the rest is reducing.
Right from the outset, this World Cup saw major upsets and not one of the favourites were spared by their opponents.
From Germany's ousting at the group stages to Spain's humiliating exit from the round of 16 against Russia, this World Cup saw plenty of upsets and for the first time in the history of the World Cup, none among Germany, Argentina and Brazil were present at the semi-final stage.
This World Cup was one of the most closely fought tournaments of all time. At times, the margins between a win and a loss were wafer-thin, and these upsets will be the major talking points whenever the 2018 World Cup will be remembered in the future.
