He did it his way and the danger for the rest of the world is that this is an extremely young squad - the second youngest ever (at 25 years and 10 months) after Brazil in 1970 to win the World Cup - and one that may get even better. Not that the former midfielder has always been loved and this triumph is a victory for his dogged, determined approach in overhauling the squad that lost the final of Euro 2016 - with 14 new faces - but also reverting to a more disciplined and pragmatic approach which meant shackling some of their extraordinary attacking talents.
At least the score was the same and while England and their fans will never stop dreaming of what might have been - just 22 minutes from the final, if anyone needed reminding - France have the 18-carat gold, 14-inch, 11lb trophy for the second time ever and the second time in 20 years.ĭidier Deschamps was their captain then and he is their coach now and became only the third man - after Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and Brazil’s Mario Zagallo - to achieve that astonishing feat and for that his place in the pantheon of French football is secured. What a finale it was to this 31-day festival of football, as Gareth Southgate called it, and it was the highest-scoring final since England beat West Germany 4-2 in 1966. To secure its status as the best ever World Cup the tournament needed a memorable final. But only after the most remarkable, crazy and controversial encounter against a courageous Croatia in which there was a VAR storm, and an actual storm in the skies above Moscow, a first-ever own goal in a World Cup Final, a cool strike from a new global superstar, an horrific goalkeeping blunder by the man who lifted the trophy - and a Pussy Riot pitch invasion. The day after Bastille Day France are champions and deservedly so.
We will miss this World Cup like no other.
Player ratings: who starred in the World Cup final?.
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