The final

France 4 Croatia 2 (Moscow)

France lifted the World Cup in Russia after a 4-2 victory over Croatia. The French took the lead in the 18th minute when a free-kick was floated into the box by Griezmann and flicked on by a defensive header for an own goal, but 10 minutes later a Croatian free-kick was headed back and eventually fell to Ivan Perisic who knocked the ball into the box and drilled home with a ferocious shot past Lloris. In the 36th minute the referee was alerted to a decision by VAR and after a lengthy delay decided to award France a doubtful penalty for hand ball which Antoine Griezmann accepted and sent Subasic the wrong way to give France a half-time lead. Three minutes after the break, Rebic saw his angled shot tipped over by Lloris, but in the 59th minute, Griezmann set up Paul Pogba whose right-footed shot was blocked and he hit the return with his left foot past the unbalanced Subasic to give France some breathing space. France seemed to have put the match to bed in the 65th minute when Kylian Mbappe found a gap and rifled in a low shot from outside the area to become the first teenager since Pele in 1958 to score in the final of a World Cup, but 4 minutes later Lloris couldn't deal with a back pass and Mario Mandzukic took advantage of his sloppiness to give Croatia a glimmer of hope that evaporated with time and the French were crowned world champions.