France have won the 2018 World Cup final after winning a thrilling final against Croatia 4-2 in Moscow.
Didier Deschamps became only the third man to triumph in the World Cup final both as a player and as a manager as his side came out on top on a game full of historic moments.
Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic became the first player to score an own goal in a World Cup final when he inadvertently deflected Antoine Griezmann’s header into his own net to give France an 18th minute lead.
That advantage lasted 10 minutes before Croatia equalised.
Zlatko Dalic’s men had come from behind in every knockout game on their way to the final and they levelled here through Ivan Perisic’s fierce effort.
But Perisic then was involved in the first ever Virtual Assistant Referee moment in a World Cup final as he was penalised for handball, after Nestor Pitana had reviewed the decision.
Griezmann converted the penalty to give France a 2-1 half-time lead.
Croatia began the second half strongly, but the game was effectively over as a contest by the 65th minute.
Kylian Mbappe’s counter-attack opened the Croatia defence and led to Paul Pogba driving home from the edge of the area in the 59th minute.
Six minutes later, Mbappe fired home to become the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pele in 1958.
Though Croatia did pull one back, as Mandzukic capitalised on a mistake by France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to score at the right end, it was not enough for Dalic’s men as France triumphed.
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