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FRANCE
LIKELY TEAM (4-3-3): Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez, Kante, Pogba, Matuidi, Mbappe, Giroud, Griezmann
- Didier Deschamps would become just the third manager in history (after Franz Beckenbauer & Mario Zagallo) to win the World Cup having also won it as a player
- France have reached three World Cup finals in the last 20 years more than any other side
- France are the sixth team to have made at least three World Cup finals, joining Netherlands on that number. Only Germany (eight), Brazil (seven), Italy (six) and Argentina (five) have made more final matches at the World Cup
- France are unbeaten in their five previous games with Croatia, winning three times. They have met twice before at major tournaments
- Raphael Varane could join a list of 10 players to have won the Champions League and World Cup in the same year, Varane is one of only two players to have played every minute of France's World Cup campaign along with Kante
- Paul Pogba can become Manchester United's first World Cup winner since 1966
Benzema, Martial, Coman, Payet, Lacazette, Rabiot, Koscielny are just some star players among a huge list of players which French manager Didier Deschamps ommitted from his final 23 man squad before the start of this summer's tournament. It is testament to manager Didier Deschamps, disciple of Aime Jacquet, France's only World Cup winning coach that he has not budged under huge public scrutiny at home to include several big stars in his party. They just did not simply fit into the team spirit Deschamps was trying to build. The first thing Paul Pogba said to his team-mates after the 1-0 victory against Belgium in the semi-final on Tuesday was about 2016 - when they lost the European Championships on home soil. "We can't do like two years ago" he shouted, with all team-mates and Deschamps listening around him. "There is one more game to go. We are not finished here. We stay calm, we win it and then we enjoy". France reached the final of the 2016 European Championships on home soil after beating favorites Germany in the semi-final, but despite being string favorites to beat Portugal they lost the final. Two years later this more harmonious, mature and homogeneous French squad are using the memories of that ill-fated night in Paris to drive them to success the class of 1998 had only achieved before them. The similarities of 1998 are there in that they are a rebuke to right wing politics and their team is glittered of stars from marginalized communities but they are hoping they don't end just there and come tea-time Sunday they will be hoping to lift the famous prize alike the stars of yesteryear.
Deschamps did not necessarily pick the 23 most talented players available to him but a squad that would be wholly devoted to working for each other and for their manager. For that and many other reasons he has been portrayed as an "analog coach in a digital age" .There were shades of this at Euro 2016, but no one would confuse Dimitri Payet’s proclivity for flair at the expense of playing a complete match or the lackadaisical defending of Patrice Evra or Bacary Sagna for the dogged performances of current full-backs Lucas Hernández and Benjamin Pavard. When constructing this squad, Deschamps did not rely on past glories while turning out for Les Bleus (Mamadou Sakho), his own past loyalties (Moussa Sissoko) or the fact that a player is at a major club (Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette). This is also a reflection of Deschamps’ pragmatism. He based his selection not just on talent but on how France would function as a team. It is also part of his own evolution. The Deschamps of the past would never have left out the experience of Sakho, Benzema or Mathieu Debuchy for the untested Pavard and Presnel Kimpembe. His strength has been in managing this squad. The electric presence of Kylian Mbappé and the occasional flashes of brilliance from Pogba and Griezmann have most definitely played their part in taking France to the final, but what has made them successful is their togetherness and doggedness. This unity had its genesis in Deschamps’ insistence on picking a young, almost untested side at the expense of more established players. Again, the excluded players may have more experience, notably Karim Benzema, but they would not have been as likely to buy into Deschamps’ planning in the same way. Almost to a man, this team has been willing to sublimate their own individuality for the good of the team. This would have seemed unlikely for Pogba or Griezmann in the recent past; not only are they two proven talents, but they are also hugely popular figures who have massive commercial interests around the world.Not only have they steered away from the odd ill-advised attacking move, but they have also worked hard, Griezmann pressing from the front and Pogba dropping deeper in midfield when required. More importantly, Deschamps has convinced these two to channel their own talents for the good of the side and that the one role in the team free of defensive responsibility should go to the squad’s youngest member: Mbappé.
Deschamps has changed the way he approaches this France side and shown immense growth, not only as a man-manager, but also in imparting his ideas to this team. In the last two years France have evolved from a sometimes-ragged collection of individuals to a team approaching each match with a sense of total unity. It may not always be pretty, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to argue with Deschamps’ methods and the lessons he has learned during his time in charge.
A key component of France's success has been down to the 5'6" ball of invincibility and awesomeness that is N'Golo Kante. Since his move to Leicester in 2015, Kante has won the Premier League title twice - with different clubs - and been voted player of the year by his Premier League peers and by the English football writers' association Kante's role, in one line, is to stop the opposition's attacks before they become dangerous, anywhere on the pitch, and to then start his own team's movement forward before the opposition has time to organize itself. It sounds simple and complex at the same time - how could one man do both jobs, and all over the pitch? And that's the key to Kante: His ability to be wherever the danger is - or, actually, a second before the danger arises. That explains those facts above: He is not interested in scoring goals, he is not necessarily the player who will pass to the scorer either. His job is to anticipate, intercept, pass, anticipate. As France's coach Didier Deschamps said : "He is an essential part of our plan. You don't want to just steal the ball from your opponents. Kante uses the ball, he has a lot of trajectories for his passing."Paul Pogba described his teammate as the man with "fifteen lungs". Tactically developed by Ranieri, technically developed under Conte. When Leicester improbably won the Premier League title in 2016, the joke was that they won it with three players in midfield - Danny Drinkwater in the middle and Kante on either side of him. His sense of positioning and anticipation is consistently excellent as well as crucial to giving Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann the platform from which to attack; they know they can pour forward as they have an ultra reliable player behind them Kante's dynamism, assuredness in possession and ability to nullify attacks before they become dangerous is crucial to this team. He glues together a midfield that has evolved into a somewhat jagged, if effective, set-up where Mbappe is given far more freedom on the right flank than Blaise Matuidi or Corentin Tolisso are afforded on the left. Without Kante, France may not have come this far.
What's also been significant of France's journey to the final has been the ascension of Paul Pogba to that of key player and leader within the French setup. On and off the pitch, he has finally matured to take responsibility and assume the leadership. Pogba has described himself during this tournament as the most criticised player in world football and those who do him down tend to look at the flashiness, the hair, the indiscipline, the self-centredness. marking Fellaini , he kept things simple and was impressive. His long balls are also exceptional. It is his tandem with Kante that they are never more than 15 yards away from each other vertically or horizontally. One will screen while the other attacks and vice versa, this along with "attack dog" Blaise Matuidi they are the axis which provide the platform of Griezmann and Mbappe to dominate. Pogba has transformed into a more connective player and it has largely been down to him and Antoine Griezmann's openness which has seen Kylian Mbappe afforded a free role on the French right side. Every time he touches the ball, something happens. His pace, his skills, his confidence, his maturity, his intelligence, nothing is short of exceptional with him. And he has absolutely everything to rule the world for the next decade at least. Mbappe has just about everything. The speed of body and mind. The technique and the temperament to make the right decisions - brilliant decisions - on the biggest of stages Young players are often told that they need to improve their decision-making in order to fulfill their potential. At 19, it was easy to wonder whether Mbappe's decision-making was actually too good providing six key passes - twice as many as anyone else on the pitch. Mbappe also completed seven dribbles. The rest of his team-mates managed three between them. He made his debut for Monaco aged 16, became the world’s most expensive teenager at 18 and will play a World Cup final on Sunday at 19. Can anything stop the rise of Kylian Mbappe?
With his conservatism and his caution, Deschamps has made this team in his image. Deschamps won the 1998 World Cup with a strong team spirit and an impressive defence. He has transferred that to his players. Against Belgium the manager chose to pack his midfield and employ a low defensive block, but France were devastatingly effective. That effectiveness has always been in this team, but it was down to Deschamps to draw upon his considerable resources and find the right balance in the side. Despite Belgium keeper Courtois' consternations they play "anti football" Deschamps team are built in his image, Against Belgium it was noticeable how Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud pressed the deeper-sitting midfielders Axel Witsel and Mousa Dembélé. Deschamps has proven to be meticulous to say the least. In the media he seems to know everyone, who they work for and what they get up to in their free time. Aside from their pre-match ritual of caressing reserve center half; Adil Rami's moustache this French side do not believe in luck or fate and in manager Didier Deschamps they can be sure they have a manager who will leave nothing to chance ahead of Sunday's clash.The side that will start Sunday average an age of 25 years and 8 months. This World Cup final, for them, is destiny, part of their road map. sense of both entitlement and expectation about their run to the final. They pretty much did it without breaking a sweat, at each turn doing just enough to dispatch the opposition, knowing they could raise their game at any moment. They are a big team who have played with the humility of a small team. They are the complete team – solid at the back, well-balanced in midfield and able to play with real flair in attack. But they have not done that often during this tournament due to the manager’s low-risk policy and seeming desire to do no more than what is required to win the game in front of him Croatia will need a clear tactical approach to outsmart Deschamps.
CROATIA
LIKELY TEAM (4-1-4-1): Subasic, Vrsaljiko, Lovren, Vida, Strinic, Brozovic, Rebic, Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Mandzukic
- Are the 13th different team to have qualified for a World Cup final
- Ranked 20th they are lowest ranked team ever to reach a World Cup final
- Since Uruguay of 1930 (1.7 million) they are the smallest nation to have the reached the final (4.1 million)
- Since the introduction of the round of 16 in 1986, Croatia are the first finalists in World Cups to have trailed in all three of their knockout games
- Dejan Lovren will become the second player after Thierry Henry (2006) to appear in a Champions League final for an English team and the World Cup final in the same year
- Luka Modric & Mateo Kovacic could join a list of 10 players to have won the Champions League and World Cup in the same year
- They have scored in their last 10 World Cup games, since a 0-0 draw with Japan in 2006
No underage structure, lack of infrastructure, political chaos, corruption all characteristics of a nation in disrepute. That being said this nation who thrive off improvisation and chaos are on the verge of unprecedented success, a triumph very few players achieve in their career, a World Cup. What they have just done should not be possible in the modern game. A country which has no national team stadium or training ground it is all the more remarkable. In a World Cup of continuity and change their sheer propensity of will, effort and resilience has remained a constant. Can they once more summon the dynamism, creativity and pressure to break down France? The country’s long-standing prizing of number-10 playmakers and playing the right way may well have organically perpetuated a culture that just keeps creating coaches who buy into this approach, and thereby players trained by it. Such a situation, and an old-fashioned faith in instinct as well as intrinsic national traits should really be completely outdated and ineffective in the modern football world, a relic of 30 years ago. It is instead the source of something the game hasn’t seen in decades.These players have constructed an alternative history where they have been begrudged (thereby explaining their inferiorty complex) so don't be surprised if vengence for their 1998 semi final defeat at the hands of their opponents is on their minds come kick off Sunday The war conditioned if not disrupted the early lives of many of their players however these same men who take to the field Sunday afternoon in Moscow have the chance of immortalizing themselves in the upper echelons of football greats.
They’ve played the football of big countries, and big clubs, assertive football where everything is on their terms; where they use the ball despite their size. No midfielder embodies this sentiment better than captain and star man Luka Modric. Modric was just six years old when forced to flee from his village around 30 miles east of Zadar. His grandfather, after whom he has named, was killed by Serbian militia at the outset of the Balkan wars. With the rest of his family, Modric took refuge in Zadar, initially in the more salubrious Hotel Kolovare, and later within the confines of Hotel Iz. Modric was a mere child at the time of those troubles but he had the ball for company. His own tale is compelling in its own right. The rejection from Hajduk Split, the club favoured by many in his hometown, before getting his chance with arch-rivals Dinamo Zagreb. The season spent in the harsh environment of the Bosnian league while still a teenager.When Modric leads out his side in Moscow, they will focus their thoughts on the young boy who dreamt of this moment while playing football outside the Hotel Iz in Zadar. Croatia’s diminutive playmaker may look like a freshly hatched warbler, but he has a knack for being the most effective player on the field no matter who he shares it with, a skill that should come in handy against the heavily favored French. Modric has since carried Croatia on his narrow shoulders all the way to its first World Cup final. Croatia will be an underdog against a loaded French squad, but if anyone can tip the scales toward the little country on the Adriatic Sea, it’s Luka Modric—all 145 pounds of him. At this World Cup, nobody has run further than Modric’s 63km. No Croat has scored more goals than Modric. No Croat has played more passes. No Croat has played more through-balls. He has completed 2.7 key passes per game, almost double the next highest figure for a Croatian. Only Rebic has dribbled more. In the squad, only Marcelo Brozovic has completed more passes of players who have started more than one game. It is not the case that if you stop Modric you stop Croatia, but if you can negate him, you gum up their system.
Mario Manduzkic will be part of the supporting cast on Sunday and it is he who will lead the front line. He is an extraordinary player, embodying the spirit in this Croatia team that makes victory in the final against a side that should be fresher just about plausible. Against Russia in the quarter final and against England, he was clearly shattered but dragged himself to his limits, pressuring the opposing defence and having the alertness to steal behind John Stones to score the winner. The physical threat that has seen him win 4.6 aeriel duels per game is not only his main asset, but it is his main one. Like the jersey he and his teammates adorn, Mandzukic has enjoyed a checkered past. Mandzukic had two years with Wolfsburg, jointly winning the Euro 2012 Golden Boot and earning a move to Bayern Munich. Mandzukic was sidelined at Bayern Munich after the arrival of Robert Lewandowski Whereas top-level club sides demand speed and movement from their forwards, at international tournaments the football is much simpler, the play much slower and the defences deeper. Therefore, stand-out centre-forwards are often more static. Battling against opposition centre-backs and providing a central pivot for the likes of Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic to feed off; this division of duties allows the latter pair to concentrate on using their speed in the channels. Mandzukic, meanwhile, moves somewhat awkwardly and has repeatedly suffered from cramp throughout this tournament. That said, his work rate throughout his top-level career has been incredible at times. At Bayern, he was a one-man pressing machine, and with Juventus, he seemingly manages to play left-wing and centre-forward simultaneously. Mandzukic might be considered a target man in the modern era, but he's not simply an aerial threat who batters opponents with strength; he's a skillful, intelligent centre-forward with imagination and creativity to rival slicker, quicker players. After Sunday's game, Mandzukic must wait to discover how Juventus will use Cristiano Ronaldo and whether Gonzalo Higuain will still be around.
Eintracht Frankfurt star Ante Rebic and Inter Milan winger and ex Croatia beach volleyball star, Ivan Perisic will take to the wings on Sunday. Rebic is a paradox in that no Croatia player has dribbled as much as him in Russia yet it is he who is entrusted by his teammates to sacrifice his own game giving Ivan Perisic license down Croatia's left.
The wide man is averaging 3.8 fouls per game, more than anybody else at the World Cup, an indication of the enthusiasm with which he presses. Ivan Perisic too save for his exquisite equalizer against England has rarely caught the attention of many a fan. However what the winger is perceived to lack in skill and talent he makes up for in efficiency and with his goal against England it now means no other player in the current Croatia side has been involved in as many goals in major tournaments than the Internazionale man. It is no wonder Jose Mourinho and Manchester United have taken a key liking to him. 45% of Croatia’s attacks have come down their left as opposed to 33% on the right. Perisic will also be hoping for his left back, Strinic to bomb forward at times enabling him to play alongside Mandzukic. Ivan Rakitic, who has had been inconsistent to say the least will join Luka Modric and Mario Manduzkic in tandem as they look to press the French back four when they take possession from Hugo Lloris. They will have to bear in mind they will not be able to press the French as they did to the English and will look to tactically outsmart them throughout midfield. Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic will drop further back and prevent the French from gaining overloads down the wings and will also act as further protection to the Croatian back four. Marcelo Brozovic is the screen in midfield and is probably the most undervalued player in the Croatian setup. His presence will enable Modric and Rakitic to enact their damage further up the pitch. Croatia will, therefore, need to be patient and not leave themselves as exposed at the back as they did during the first half of their semi-final against England. They were incredibly open during that period and, in truth, were lucky not to be more than 1-0 down. However, Croatia also showed during the second half that they are a remarkably mature and resilient team and one that, unlike France, play to their absolute limit. They will push Deschamps’ men all the way.
At the back Dejan Lovren has been nothing less than sensational and deserves all the plaudits even despite his own contention that he is one of the best defenders in the world. Although it is noteworthy that only Harry Maguire (37) has won more aeriel duels than Lovren (32) while the Liverpool man also boasts a 100% success rate from tackles. Fellow center half, Domagaj Vida and right back Sime Vrsaljiko have also been outstanding to date and both may earn a place in the team of the tournament while Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic has been the penalty shootout hero not once but twice so far this tournament. Evidently this underdog have their fair share of stars and now it is of no surprise to any neutral that they are the small nation playing with the style and substance of big, great team. Thre are success stories everywhere you look in the side, take the 1998 World Cup Final as a prime example. French manager Deschamps, one of the best ever in his position, was on the pitch and helped France lift the trophy for the first time in their history. Zlatko Dalic was in the stands as a spectator, having paid his own way. Nearly twenty years to the date Deschamps could be the man watching Dalic hold the World Cup aloft. In case you were wondering, Football's coming home translates to “Nogomet dolazi doma” in Croatian. And Croatia is the home which football could be heading after last Wednesday's victory over England. They have answered so many questions to date but would Croatia winning the World Cup constitute the greatest sporting shock of all time? Tune in Sunday evening.
WHERE GAME WILL BE WON
It is noteworthy that it has been 24 years since the winner of the Golden Ball has come from the tournament's champions. Sunday's contest will contain three players all hoping to claim this year's gong with two of those players opposing each other in the midfield battle; N'Golo Kante of France and Luka Modric of Croatia. Modric is the conductor of the Croatian orchestra and it is he who sets the tempo for his teammates. Anything good Croatia will do stems from the Real Madrid man. So far in Russia, Croatia have dominated possession in five games out of six. France with their counter attacking style are heavily reliant on the Premiership pairing of Chelsea's N'Golo Kante and Manchester United's Paul Pogba. Kante in particular will be tasked with stifling Croatia's attack and if they can stop the "Vatreni" from playing it will be Pogba who will be in charge of supplying quick ball into star men Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann who will be tasked with inflicting damage upon Croatia in their attempts to secure a maiden World Cup triumph. Whichever team wins this battle is likely to win the match.
PREDICTION
This World Cup will not be a success for France's golden generation should they fail to win this Sunday. Though you can expect the likes of Mbappe, Dembele, Pogba and Varane to be here for many a year to come they will all want to make their mark here and now. Les Bleus to overcome another valiant display from Modric and Croatia.
France 1-0 Croatia