The teams from France and Croatia will face each other in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final, which will take place at the Luzhnikí Stadium in Moscow on Sunday. Didier Deschampes' commanding team comes from overcoming Belgiumin the semifinals and arrives as a favorite in the pursuit of the Football World Cup title 20 years after their last consecration. The national team in charge of Zlatko Dalic was classified to the first final of its history, after prevailing in extra time or in penalties in the three matches of the decisive phase.
Throughout the Soccer
World Cup, the performance of the French national team was increasing.
After a tight 2-1 victory in their Group C debut against Australia, the
Deschamps-led squad won the standings against Peru on the second day by winning
1-0 and drawing a goalless draw against Denmark on the final day. In the final
phase, Les Blues began to shape their offensive potential on the court with a
convincing 4-3 against Argentina in the round of 16 and the subsequent 2-0
against Uruguay in the quarterfinals. Against Belgium he did not have much left
over and got a win by the minimum that positioned him in the grand final of the
Football World Cup. A very solid
team in all its lines, had Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane as caudillos of the
defense, Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kanté as midfield thermometers and with an
explosive attack that had as protagonists Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé.
Only 9 minutes and 12 seconds is the time in which the
Europeans were losing throughout the World Cup and was in a lapse of the match
with Argentina. Leaving aside that short period of time, France gave plenty of
evidence of its conditions and is planted in the final as the favorite to
return to take the World Cup just 20 years after its last conquest
There are no institutional or leadership arguments that
explain the arrival of the Croatian national team at the end of the world.
Dalic has only 13 games in command of this team, he took over less than a year
ago and, however, he channeled in a short time a team that was very close to
not qualifying for the World Cup. Without time to launch a project, Croatia
took refuge in the good performance of its players to compete at the highest
level. Talents like Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic were enough
for this team to make their way to their first final of the World Cup and be
the big surprise.
The road started with a 2-0 against Nigeria and continued
with a 3-0 win over Argentina and with the finishing touch in Group D, which
was 2-1 to Iceland. In the final phase, Croatia suffered more than any other
team: they won on penalties to Denmark in the round of 16 and in the same way
to Russia in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal he beat England 2-1 in extra
time, to achieve the feat. Being the first team in the history of the World Cup
that exceeds three elongates in the same edition of the tournament, Croatia
bets on its courage and its talent to repeat the formula of success and
elaborate a consecrating triumph.
In the grand final of the FIFA World Cup, France and Croatia will lower the curtain of the
21st edition of the World Cup. The referee of the match will be in charge of
the Argentine Néstor Pitana, who was already the referee in four World Cup
matches in Russia.
The history of direct confrontations between these teams
reveals five clashes, of which France won three, Croatia none and a pair ended
in a draw.
FIFA World Cup
,
Football
