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FULL TIME — France have won the 2018 World Cup, beating Croatia 4-2
94’ — Croatia nearly concede another penalty, as a throw-in to Pogba in the penalty box bounces off of Vida’s arm. But no call is made.
93’ — Yellow card: Vrsaljko rightly sees yellow after a late tackle on Griezmann.
90’ — Five minutes of stoppage time have been added.
88’ — Rakitic takes a long-range shot off target from well outside the box. France’s defense continues to frustrate the Croatians.
81’ — Croatia are still dominating possession and circulating the ball outside France’s penalty area, but they have yet to break through.
Substitution: for France, Giroud makes way for Fekir; for Croatia, Pjaca replaces Strinic.
73’ — Substitution: Bayern Munich’s last remaining player in the World Cup, Corentin Tolisso, replaces Matuidi.
71’ — Substitution: Andrej Kramaric replaces Rebic, who has been largely ineffective all evening.
A moment thereafter, Mandzukic and Umtiti collide on an aerial challenge and are briefly treated.
69’ — Croatia score! The Croats have no intention of giving up: Mario Mandzukic provokes a critical mistake from Lloris simply by charging him as he prepared to kick the ball. Lloris attempted to dribble around him, but Mandzukic caught the ball with his toe and sent it into the net.
65’ — France score! This time it’s Mbappe. The wunderkind fires a low-flying rocket into the left corner of the net from above the penalty arc. Croatia’s defense helplessly watch it fly in.
59’ — France score! Mbappe creates chaos yet again as Croatia’s defense just cannot contain him effectively. His deflected shot is collected by Griezmann, who gives the ball to Pogba. Pogba’s shot with his right foot is blocked, but while the Croatian players try to find the ball, Pogba hammers it into the net with his left foot.
54’ — Substitution: France replace Kante with Nzonzi.
52’ — France launch a counter and find Mbappe on the right wing. He flies past Vida with his blistering pace and manages a direct shot that Subasic blocks.
The game is briefly interrupted while security removes a pitch invader.
48’ — Rakitic dribbles through France’s midfield and sends the ball onward to Rebic. Rebic fires a rocket on goal, but Lloris gets a hand on it and sends it out of bounds.
Kickoff of the second half — We are underway yet again. No changes were made at the half. Croatia now must fight its way back.
Halftime — France lead 2-1 despite registering virtually no shots at all thanks to an own-goal and a debatable penalty call for a handball.
First half xG map for the World Cup Final. France's counterattack has been exceptionally poor. Les Bleus are winning 2-1 anyway. pic.twitter.com/0wvmTwdVBA
— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) July 15, 2018
45’ — Three minutes of stoppage time have been added.
44’ — Umtiti lies on the pitch after taking a knock on the second of two Croatian corner kicks. Rakitic waits for him to move before taking a third.
40’ — Croatia retaliate immediately, as Perisic drives up the pitch. He delivers a promising cross to Ante Rebic, but Rebic misfires.
39’ — France scores! Griezmann coolly converts the penalty and France reclaim the lead.
37’ — Penalty for France. After consulting the replay, the referee calls for a penalty. Griezmann steps up.
34’ — After a French corner kick to Matuidi at the near post, the French players all indicate a handball. On replay, the ball can be seen bouncing off of Perisic’s hand. The referee is now consulting VAR, but will he rule it a handball?
31’ — Nutmegovic strikes again, as Rakitic nutmegs Paul Pogba in the middle of the pitch.
28’ — Croatia scores! That foul by Kante cost more than a yellow card. Modric sends the ball out wide on the right. Croatia manages to control the rebound and Perisic finds it at his feet at the edge of the box. His aim is true, and Croatia have tied the game.
27’ — Yellow card: Kante. Kante is carded for tripping up Perisic on a fast break.
23’ — Vida somehow makes an incredible last-man tackle to defuse a two-on-one fast break.
17’ — France scores! The Bleus finally flashes their teeth: a long pass to Mbappe puts France firmly in Croatia’s penalty area for the first time. While Mbappe cannot do anything on the flank, Griezmann draws a foul outside the box. On the ensuing penalty kick, Mandzukic unwittingly heads the ball out of his keeper’s reach and into the net.
15’ — Perisic breaks away again on the left flank, winning a corner as his cross to Mandzukic is cleared by Umtiti.
11’ — Croatia continue to threaten France: Rakitic lobs a beautiful pass to Perisic in France’s penalty area. But Perisic can’t bring it down and under control and loses it over the goal line.
6’ — Receiving a throw-in, Rakitic deftly nutmegs Bayern target Pavard to deliver a very dangerous pass to Strinic deep in France’s penalty area. Strinic wins a corner.
3’ — Perisic receives the ball in a promising position on the left wing. It initially looks like Croatia can challenge France in a 2-on-2, but Perisic loses the ball trying to dribble through the penalty area.
Kickoff: Croatia start with the ball, but France press very hard and drive the ball back to Subasic, who is forced to clear it up field.
Lineups:
Your starting lineups are out for the #WorldCupFinal! pic.twitter.com/rxj6VkpxMg
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 15, 2018
No major surprises. Unfortunately, Corentin Tolisso remains on the bench.
France vs Croatia
The 2018 FIFA World Cup comes to an end today in Moscow, Russia. France is playing in their third World Cup Final in the last 20 years while Croatia is making their debut. There’s one Bayern player in the match, so we all want Corentin Tolisso to light it up!
While most people expected France to be here, Croatia has certainly taken most people by surprise. We knew they were a good team, but were people jumping on the “Croatia can win the World Cup” bandwagon before the first kick in Moscow last month?
All we really hope is that the game is super entertaining for everyone to cap off what has been a pretty entertaining World Cup.
Who ya got?
Location: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia
Time: 6:00 pm local time, 11:00 am EST
TV/streaming: Telemundo Deportes En Vivo / Your Country
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