2018 FIFA World Cup final

France's route to the final

	Opponent	Result
1	Australia	2–1
2	Peru	1–0
3	Denmark	0–0
R16	Argentina	4–3
QF	Uruguay	2–0
SF	Belgium	1–0

France entered the 2018 World Cup as the bookmakers' favourites to win the tournament,[39] and qualified for the tournament by finishing first in their qualification group, ahead of Sweden and the Netherlands.[7] In the finals, they were drawn in Group C alongside Australia, Denmark, and Peru.[3] Their opening match was against Australia at Kazan Arena in Kazan on 16 June.[40] France won the game 2–1 with Antoine Griezmann scoring the first goal from a penalty called by the video assistant referee. This was followed by a penalty for Australia which was scored by Mile Jedinak, before France scored the winner through an own goal deflected in by Australian defender Aziz Behich.[41] France's second match was against Peru at Central Stadium in Yekaterinburg.[42] France won 1–0 through a goal scored by 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé, who became the country's youngest goalscorer at a major tournament.[43][44] The victory qualified France for the knockout stage, allowing Didier Deschamps, the French manager, to rest several starting players for the final group stage match against Denmark. That game, which took place at the Luzhniki Stadium, finished in a scoreless draw and was enough for France to win the group.[3][45]

In the round of 16, France faced Group D runners-up Argentina, on 30 June at Kazan Stadium. In a match dubbed by writers for The Week as "the classic of Kazan", France won 4–3.[46] Griezmann gave France the lead early in the game with a penalty, after Marcos Rojo had fouled Mbappé as he ran with the ball into the penalty area. Argentina then scored on either side of half-time through Ángel Di María and Gabriel Mercado to take the lead, but Benjamin Pavard brought France level again. Mbappé then scored twice in five minutes to put them 4–2 up before Sergio Agüero scored a late third for Argentina. Patrick Jennings of BBC Sport described Mbappé's contribution as a "brilliant performance that will linger long in the memory".[47] France's quarter-final was against Uruguay at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on 6 July.[48] They won 2–0, with goals from Raphaël Varane and Griezmann.[49] The team advanced to a semi-final match against Belgium at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg on 10 July. The game ended in a 1–0 win for the French, the winner headed into the goal by defender Samuel Umtiti following a corner kick.[50]

Croatia's route to the final

	Opponent	Result
1	Nigeria	2–0
2	Argentina	3–0
3	Iceland	2–1
R16	Denmark	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)
QF	Russia	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)
SF	England	2–1 (a.e.t.)

In their qualification group, Croatia finished second to Iceland and had to enter the qualifying play-offs. There, they faced Greece, whom they beat over a two-legged tie, winning the first leg 4–1 and drawing 0–0 in the second.[51][52][53] In the finals, Croatia were drawn into Group D with Argentina, Iceland, and Nigeria, considered a difficult draw due to Argentina's talent and Nigeria's historic performances.[51][54] In their opening match, the team earned a 2–0 victory over Nigeria, with an own goal by Oghenekaro Etebo caused by Mario Mandžukić and a penalty scored by Luka Modrić.[55] Striker Nikola Kalinić refused to enter the match as a substitute, citing back pain as his reason for not playing, and was expelled from the team by manager Zlatko Dalić, leaving Croatia with only 22 players for the remainder of the tournament.[56] Croatia went on to beat Argentina 3–0, taking the lead in the second half when goalkeeper Willy Caballero's attempted clearance was intercepted by Ante Rebić, and then scoring twice more through Modrić and Ivan Rakitić. Lionel Messi, Argentina's captain, was described by BBC Sport's Jennings as "adrift for much of the match". Croatia finished atop the group with a 2–1 win over Iceland, resting several starting players in the final group match.[57][58][59]

In the round of 16, Croatia played Denmark on 1 July at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.[60] They earned a 1–1 draw after the two teams exchanged goals in the opening five minutes and Modrić missed a penalty in extra time. Croatia won the subsequent penalty shootout 3–2, with three saves by goalkeeper Danijel Subašić and two saves by Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.[61][62] The team advanced to a quarter-final at Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi against hosts Russia, on 7 July.[63] The Russians scored their first in the 31st minute, but Andrej Kramarić equalised for Croatia eight minutes later and kept the score at 1–1 through the end of regular time. Croatia took a 2–1 lead in the 101st minute with a header by Domagoj Vida, but Russian defender Mário Fernandes equalised five minutes before the end of extra time to trigger a penalty shoot-out. The shootout was won 4–3 by Croatia after two misses by Russia and a shot by Modrić that rebounded into the goal off Igor Akinfeev's arm and the post.[64][65] Croatia became the second team in World Cup to win two shoot-outs in a tournament, after Argentina in 1990.[66] After the match, a video of Vida shouting "Glory to Ukraine" prompted controversy among Russians and a warning from FIFA's disciplinary committee, which enforces a ban on political slogans.[67] Croatia's semi-final match against England, on 11 July at the Luzhniki, began as they conceded a free kick goal by English defender Kieran Trippier in the fifth minute. Croatia resisted several attempts by England to score a second goal in the first half. Croatia managed an equalising goal of their own through a shot by Ivan Perišić in the 68th minute. The match was won 2–1 by Croatia after a 109th-minute goal by Mandžukić. This made Croatia the first team to earn three come-from-behind victories in the FIFA World Cup, all three matches also going into extra time.[68][69]

Teams lined up prior to kick-off

Croatia kicked off the match at 6 pm local time (3 pm UTC) in temperatures of 27 °C (81 °F) with 51% humidity, in front of a crowd of 78,011 and an estimated global television audience of 1.12 billion.[78][79][80] The weather at Sheremetyevo International Airport, 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the stadium,[lower-alpha 1] was recorded as partly cloudy at the time of kick-off.[83] The match was played through a minor thunderstorm, which produced several visible lightning strikes.[84] The Guardian's Barry Glendenning wrote that Croatia had the better of the first 15 minutes, noting that France were "struggling to get out of their own half" and that Croatia were "bossing them completely." However, it was France who took the lead in the 18th minute. They won a free kick around 30 yards (27 m) from goal when Marcelo Brozović fouled Griezmann, which Griezmann took himself. He crossed the free kick into the penalty area, where it reached Mandžukić.[85] He attempted to head clear, but the ball instead went past goalkeeper Subašić for an own goal, the first ever own goal in a World Cup final.[86] N'Golo Kanté received the game's first yellow card in the 28th minute for a foul on Perišić. Croatia equalised a minute later, when Perišić was fouled 40 yards (37 m) from goal and Modrić's free kick towards the far goalpost was headed back across goal by Šime Vrsaljko and collected by Perišić, who hit a low shot into the corner of the goal.[85]

Three minutes after Croatia's goal, Griezmann took a corner into the penalty area. Blaise Matuidi's attempt to score with a header was not successful, but France players appealed for a penalty, claiming that Perišić had handled the ball while marking Matuidi. The video assistant referee alerted Pitana and after he reviewed the incident for several minutes, he gave a penalty to France. The penalty was taken by Griezmann in the 38th minute, and he scored with a low kick into the left-hand corner. In the 43rd minute, Lucas Hernandez was booked for a foul on Rebić and then Perišić had a shot on goal which was deflected for a corner by Paul Pogba. Shortly before half-time, Croatia had a corner which was taken by Rakitić into the penalty area, where Vida had an opportunity to score with his head, but the ball went wide of the goal.[85] The first half finished with France leading 2–1, despite having only one shot on goal and 34% of the possession.[86] During the half-time break, pundits discussed the legitimacy of both France's goals, with Alan Shearer and Rio Ferdinand on BBC One saying that neither the free kick which led to their first goal, nor the penalty for the second, should have been awarded.[87] Shearer labelled the penalty decision "ridiculous", saying that in his opinion there was "no way that the hand-ball was deliberate".[88] Chris Waddle, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live thought the penalty decision was correct, however, saying "I would have given it. Perišić has stopped the ball going through with his hand."[87] Gabriele Marcotti of ESPN described it as "the sort of decision that, even after replay, could have gone either way".[89]

Antoine Griezmann was named the man of the match after scoring one goal and assisting another.

A Croatian attack was stopped early in the second half after several pitch invaders ran onto the field before being removed by security officers; Russian feminist rock band and protest group Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for the interruption.[90] Three minutes into the second half, Croatia had an opportunity to score when Rebić struck the ball towards goal from the left side of the penalty area following a pass by Rakitić. French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a one-handed save from his shot, sending the ball behind for a corner.[85][89] Glendenning said that Croatia had begun the second half as they began the first, "in a state of total dominance".[85] France had an opportunity in the 52nd minute, when Mbappé received the ball from Pogba and ran down the left-hand side. He ran past Vida and shot towards goal, but Subašić was able to claim the ball. France made a substitution in the 55th minute when Steven Nzonzi replaced Kanté.[85] They then increased their lead in the 59th minute, when Pogba found Mbappé again, on the right wing, with a pass from his own half.[85] Mbappé passed to Griezmann, who then sent the ball back to Pogba who was outside the penalty area. Pogba took a shot at goal which rebounded back to him off a defender, before he sent a second shot into the Croatian goal with Subašić unable to reach it.[85][89]

France had a chance to extend their lead in the 63rd minute when Olivier Giroud hit the ball with a bicycle kick towards Griezmann, who was not marked in front of goal, but Brozović was able to gain possession before the ball reached Griezmann. Two minutes later, they did score again when Mbappé hit a shot from 25 yards (23 m) which went past Vida and Subašić, low into the Croatian goal.[85] Mbappé became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final, the first being Pelé when he scored twice in 1958.[91] Croatia scored their second goal in the 69th minute from a back-pass that Lloris failed to dribble away from Mandžukić, who poked the loose ball into the unguarded net with his right leg. Despite late pressure by Croatia, the match finished as a 4–2 victory for France, the highest-scoring World Cup final since 1966 and the first World Cup final since 2002 to be decided without extra time.[85][92]

In France, the final was televised on TF1 and BeIN Sports and drew an average of 26.1 million viewers, making it the most watched event ever in French television history.[114] In Croatia, the match drew around 1.538 million viewers – more than 38% of the population – on national broadcaster HRT 2 for an 89.3% market share.[115][116] In the United Kingdom, the final had an average viewership of 10.5 million and a peak viewership of 13.8 million, split between free-to-air broadcasters BBC One and ITV, almost half that of the viewership of England–Croatia semi-final.[117][118][115] In Germany, the match drew a viewership of 21.3 million, which was around 76% of the market share, on state-owned ZDF.[118][115][116] In Spain, the match had a 57.3% share, with 8.2 million viewers on Mediaset España Comunicación's Telecinco.[118] In Italy, it drew 11.7 million viewers on Canale 5.[118][116] In the Netherlands, the match had a viewership of 3.1 million on NPO1.[116] In the host nation of Russia, the final was the third-most watched match of the 2018 World Cup and accounted for around 50% of the nation's population.[119]

In total, the final drew more than 160 million viewers in 20 European territories, including Russia, the United Kingdom and Germany.[120][121]

In the United States, the match was broadcast in English on Fox and in Spanish on Telemundo; the broadcasts averaged 16.6 million viewers combined, with Telemundo reaching a total of 57% of the country's Latino population.[118][122][123][124] In India, 70 million viewers streamed the match online, through Sony Picture Networks India's (SPN) Sony Liv application, which was a record for a football match;[125][126][127] an additional 22.4 million viewers watched the match on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 3 and Sony ESPN.[125] In China, the match drew a combined of 56 million viewers on state-broadcasters CCTV-1 and CCTV-5, the most-watched sporting event in China since 2008 Beijing Olympics;[118][120][121] an additional 24 million viewers streamed the match through Youku, a video-service and an Alibaba Group subsidiary.[128][129] In Australia, the final was watched by an average of 2.2 million viewers – with a peak of 3.4 million viewers – on national public broadcaster SBS.[130][131] Whereas, in Canada, the final was watched by an average of 3.9 million viewers, with a peak of 5.4 million viewers on CTV, TSN and RDS.[132]