With France nursing a 2-1 lead at halftime of the 2018 World Cup Final, Croatia was forced to go in search of an equalizer against the planet’s premier counter attacking side.
N’Golo Kanté is, in many respects, the best defensive player in the world because of the amount of turf the midfielder covers, combined with his tactical acumen, speed and tackling ability. But the Ivan Perišić goal vs France made Kanté look like a schoolboy.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup Final opened with Croatia’s high press and positive play causing all sorts of problems for France. The opening 15 minutes was dominated by the perceived underdogs, and that pressure was only relieved when Antoine Griezmann won a foul in a dangerous area just outside Croatia’s box.
In realtime, the Atletico Madrid striker appeared to get bowled over. Referee Nestor Pitana whistled for a free kick but replays revealed that it had been an expert piece of simulation from Griezmann — it was a dive, plain and simple.
Before today’s main event at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, World Cup final spectators were treated to the closing ceremony on the pitch. Around 80,000 got to watch 49-year-old Will Smith lip sync a pretty bad song and Ronaldinho slap a drum while a cohort of attractive women danced around him.
So just another day in the life of Ronaldinho, I guess.
The Croatia World Cup final vs. France is definitely something historic for the Balkan country.
Not many countries have had the honor of reaching that stage.
This has all the more merit considering how young the country is — Croatia was formed as a nation state in 1991 after the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
When France and Croatia battle for the World Cup trophy on Sunday in Russia (learn how to watch it here), two national teams with iconic looks will take the pitch side by side for the first time in 20 years. The question is, will those iconic uniforms be the ones we see for the World Cup final kits?
Yes, we’re doing the third place game. No, I don’t know why.
For the second time in this World Cup, Belgium beat England. For the second time this World Cup, England’s loss proved to be a partial success, helping cement a Harry Kane Golden Boot on Saturday.
Belgium took down England 2-0 in the lowest-scoring third-place match since Poland beat Brazil 1-0 in 1974 (leave it to England to make a third-place match boring). It reaffirmed what most astute observers already knew: The Red Devils are far superior to the Three Lions and fully deserve their best-ever finish at a World Cup.
We’ve given you previews and predictions for the France vs. Croatia match, but the most important item to know is: how to watch the World Cup final 2018.
The beauty of the World Cup is in how it brings together people of all races, creeds, ethnicities and nationalities under their shared passion of soccer. There are moments where tensions spill over, but more often than not the World Cup is a celebration of diversity. Even within teams at the World Cup there is a wide range among players' backgrounds.