It was the final of the 21sta quadrennial tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of. The match was contested by andand held at the inRussia. Before 2018, France's only World Cup victory was in — though they had also reached the final in — while Croatia were playing in their first World Cup final. Both teams had defeated former World Cup champions on their way to the final: France defeated and winnersCroatia defeated winners and both teams defeated and winners. Croatia became the third Eastern European nation to reach the World Cup final, and the first since lost the final in to. France also became the second team in the 32-team World Cup to win all their knockout matches without any extra time or penalty shoot-out after in. As winners, France qualified for the. The final was watched by a global audience of 1. Further information: The final was played at the inlocated in the of the. An expanded version of the stadium was named as the provisional final venue in Russia'swhich was selected by on 2 December 2010. The stadium also hosted six other matches, including the opening match on 14 June, three group stage matches, a round of 16 match, and the second semi-final match. The exterior of the Luzhniki Stadium at night with in the background. The Luzhniki Stadium, previously known as the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium until 1992, originally opened in 1956 as part of the to host the. The stadium has served as the of the country, hosting many matches for the and its predecessor, the. In the past, the stadium has been used as the home ground at various times for, and. However, there are currently no clubs based at the stadium. The stadium has hosted numerous international sporting events. The stadium was the main venue for thehosting the and ceremonies,four matches, including the gold medal matchand the. The stadium hosted theas well as the. Other events staged include thethe final game of thethethe in 1984, theand the. In 2013, the and were held at the ground in front of sparse crowds. The stadium has also served as a venue for many concerts, including Western artists after the fall of theas well as political rallies. Rated as a stadium bythe Luzhniki Stadium is the largest in Russia and at the 2018 World Cup; it usually has a maximum capacity of 81,006, but was reduced to 78,011 for the World Cup. This also makes the stadium the largest in Eastern Europe, and. To prepare for the World Cup, the stadium was closed for extensive renovations in August 2013. The spectator stands were moved closer to the pitch, which was converted from artificial turf to natural grass, after the removal of the athletic track. The historic facade of the stadium was preserved due to its architectural value, while the roof was upgraded using a new skin with exterior lighting. The Luzhniki did not host any matches at the due to the ongoing project. Background After and were eliminated in the quarter-finals, a European side was ensured to win the World Cup for a fourth consecutive tournament. The match was also the ninth all-European World Cup final, which most recently occurred in and. The match was the third World Cup final for France, first appearing in the as hosts, winning 3—0 against reigning champions Brazil. France also contested the 2006 final, where they lost to in a following a 1—1 draw. Only Germany eight and Italy six have reached more finals among European nations. The match was the first World Cup final for Croatia in their fifth World Cup appearance. They are the 10th European country and 13th overall to reach a World Cup final, and the first new finalist since in 2010. With a population of 4. Croatia's previous best performance was as World Cup debutants inwhen they finished in third place, losing 2—1 to hosts France in the semi-finals before beating the 2—1 football world cup final the third place play-off. The final was the sixth meeting between France and Croatia, with France undefeated in the previous fixtures with three wins and two draws. The two sides first met in thewith hosts France winning 2—1. Their only other competitive meeting was during thewhich finished as a 2—2 draw. Their next, and most recent, meeting was in a March 2011which finished as a 0—0 draw. Route to the final France's starting lineup for the 2018 World Cup Final France entered the 2018 World Cup as one of the favourites to win the tournament, particularly for their strong squad featuring several youth talents. The team finished as runners-up to atwhich the country hosted. The team qualified for the World Cup finals after finishing first in theirahead of and the Netherlands. At the World Cup, France were drawn into alongside, and. The team defeated Australia 2—1 in its opening match inwith a called by the and scored by followed football world cup final an deflected by Australian defender. In its second match, France won 1—0 over Peru on a goal scored by 19-year-oldwho became France's youngest goalscorer at a major tournament. The victory over Peru qualified France for the knockout stage, allowing manager Didier Deschamps to rest several starting players for the final group stage match against Denmark. The match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow finished in a scoreless draw marked by misplaced passes and goalkeeping mistakes. The team's group stage performance was characterised as lacking cohesion and failing to use its star players effectively. Finishing as winners of Group C, France were matched in the round of 16 with Group D runners-up. France won 4—3 on two goals scored by Mbappé, who also won a penalty in the opening minutes. Defender also scored in the match, with his strike later voted as goal of the tournament. Mbappé's performance drew comparisons to Brazilian stars andwho in was the most recent teenager to score twice in a World Cup match. In the quarter-finals, France defeated 2—0 on a goal and assist by Griezmann. The team advanced to a semi-final match against in St. Petersburg, which ended in a 1—0 win for the French with a corner kick headed into the goal by defender. The French team, particularly Mbappé, were criticised for and other unsportsmanlike conduct in the semi-finals after taking the lead in the second half. Croatia Croatia's starting eleven for the 2018 World Cup Final Croatia entered the 2018 World Cup as dark horses, with their led by forward and midfielders, and. The team had been eliminated in the group stage at thebut reached the round of 16 at Euro 2016. In theirCroatia scored 15 goals and finished second to after appointing manager amid a series of poor away results. However, Croatia managed to advance past in thewinning the first leg 4—1 and drawing 0—0 in the second. Croatia were drawn into with Argentina, Iceland, andconsidered a difficult draw due to Argentina's talent and Nigeria's historic performances. In their opening match, the team earned a 2—0 victory over Nigeria, with an by caused by Mandžukić and a penalty scored by Modrić. Striker refused to enter the match as football world cup final substitute, citing back pain as his reason for not playing, and was expelled from the team by Dalić, leaving Croatia with only 22 players for the remainder of the tournament. Croatia finished atop the group with a 2—1 win over Iceland, resting several starting players in the final group match. In the round of 16, Croatia played and earned a 1—1 draw after the two teams exchanged goals in the opening five minutes and a missed penalty from Modrić in extra time. Croatia won the subsequent penalty shootout 3—2, with three saves by goalkeeper and two saves by Danish goalkeeper. The team advanced to a quarter-final fixture with hostswho had defeated in the round of 16, in. The Russians scored their first in the 31st minute, but 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 extra time with a header bybut Russian defender equalised in stoppage time to trigger a penalty shootout. The shootout was won 4—3 by Croatia after two misses by Russia and a shot by Modrić that rebounded off the post and into the goal. Croatia became the second team in World Cup to win two shootouts in a tournament, after Argentina in. Croatia's semi-final match against at the Luzhniki began as they conceded a goal by English defender 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 Perišić in the 68th minute. The match was won 2—1 by Croatia after a 109th-minute goal by Mandžukić. Pre-match Match ball The official match ball for the final was the Telstar Mechta : Мечта; lit. The Telstar family, football world cup final homage to the originalwas designed similarly to 2014'sbut with longer seams and additional panels. The final is Pitana's fifth match as referee during the tournament, becoming only the second football world cup final to officiate the opening match and the final. Pitana officiated an additional group stage match, along with two knockout stage matches in the round of 16 and quarter-finals. Pitana has been a since 2010, and officiated four matches at the. His compatriots Hernán Maidana and Juan Pablo Belatti were chosen as assistant referees. Italian was named thepresiding over the first use of the technology at a World Cup final. Argentine was chosen as the assistant video assistant referee, while Carlos Astroza of Chile was appointed as the second assistant and of the Netherlands as the third assistant. Match Summary Teams lined up prior to kick-off Croatia kicked off the final at 18:00 15:00with the ground temperature reported at 27 81. The match was played through a minorwhich produced several visible lightning strikes. An audience of 78,011 spectators at the Luzhniki Stadium watched the match, including tenamong them, and. The starting line-ups for both teams were identical to those fielded in the semi-finals. An attack by French midfielder was stopped by a challenge fromwhich was called as a foul despite claims that Griezmann. Griezmann took the ensuing 30-yard 27 m free kick, which was diverted by the head of into the left corner of his own net to give France the lead in the 18th minute. It was the first own goal to be scored in a World Cup final and the 12th of the tournament, the most of any World Cup. Ten minutes later, Croatia equalised with a left-footed strike by to the right corner of the net, assisted by after a free kick by on the right. In the 34th minute, a penalty was awarded against Croatia after Perišić's handball in the box from a corner on the right was reviewed by the. Griezmann scored the penalty in the 38th minute with a low finish to the left, giving France a 2—1 lead at half-time; the first half's three goals were the most of any World Cup final since. France led at half-time despite having only one shot on goal and with only 34% of possession. A Croatian counter-attack was stopped early in the second half after several were chased onto the field by security officers; Russian feminist rock band and protest group claimed responsibility for the interruption. In the 59th minute, France extended their lead to 3—1 with a left-foot strike to the left of the net from the edge of the penalty area by after his initial shot had been blocked. Six minutes later, scored France's fourth goal, with a low right-foot shot from outside the box to the left of the net; Mbappé became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since in. Croatia scored their second goal in the 69th minute, as from a back-pass, France goalkeeper failed to dribble around Mandžukić, who poked the loose ball into the unguarded net with his right leg. Despite a late push by Croatia, the match finished as a 4—2 victory for France and the highest-scoring World Cup final since. Didier Deschamps became the third person to have won the World Cup as both a player and manager, after and. The final was the highest scoring sinceand the highest score in regular time since. The winner's medals were presented on the pitch to the French team by presidents, and amid a heavy rainstorm. Croatian captain won the as best player of the tournament. France'sthe final's man of the match, also won the Bronze Ball and the Silver Boot award with four goals and two assists. Kylian Mbappé won the award for the tournament. Fan celebrations on the streets of Paris left and at the right after the match. Large crowds, including 90,000 people at the fanzone and an estimated million on thecelebrated the victory in Paris. The celebrations were marred by instances of rioting that were broken up by police, as well as the deaths of at least two people during celebrations elsewhere in the country, one man died after diving into a shallow canal and another died after crashing his car into a tree,the operator of the system, temporarily renamed several stations in honour football world cup final the team and its World Cup victory. On 16 Football world cup final, more than 550,000 fans welcomed the Croatian team home in the capital city ofin the single largest public gathering in Croatia's history, where a six-hour-long bus tour brought them from to. According to a broadcast audit report, 86. Europe In France, the final was televised on and and drew an average of 26. In England, the final had an average viewership of 10. In Germany, the match drew a viewership of 21. In Spain, the match had a 57. In Croatia, the match drew around 1. In Italy, it drew 11. In the Netherlands, the match had a viewership of 3. 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. In total, the final drew more than 160 million viewers in 20 European territories, including Russia, the United Kingdom and Germany. Rest of the world In the United States of America, the match was broadcast on -owned and -owned andthe match averaged 16. Football world cup final China, the match drew a combined of 56 million viewers on state-broadcasters andthe most-watched sporting event in China since ; an additional 24 million viewers streamed the match througha video-service and an subsidiary. In Australia, the final was watched by an average of 2. Whereas, in Canada, the final was watched by an average of 3. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 10 July 2018 — via Olympics World Library. Fédération Internationale de Football Football world cup final. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Leo Barraclough, Stewart Clarke, John Hopewell, Vivarelli and Joseph Otterson. Leo Barraclough, Stewart Clarke, John Hopewell, Vivarelli and Joseph Otterson. Preliminary overnight data from Numeris confirms that an average audience of 3. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to.
