World Cup 2018 Final: France vs Croatia

Football's biggest showcase is finally here as the fanfare in Russia is about to come on an end on Sunday as France take on Croatia in the 21st installment of the FIFA World Cup final.

It's an all-European battle to decide who will be crowned champion as France and Croatia. 

How did France get here?
France's path to the World Cup final didn't come as much of a surprise, as it was considered one of the favorites before the tournament started. Paired in Group C with Denmark, Peru and Australia, France beat Australia 2-1, Peru 1-0 and draw with Denmark 0-0 to clinched a berth in the round of 16, and a draw with Denmark gave them first place in the group. They then met Argentina in the first round of the knockout stage and eliminated the south American side by 4 goals to 3. Next they met Uruguay in the quarter finals and won 2-0 en-route to meeting Belgium in the semi finals wining 1-0 to set up a final clash with Croatia.

How did Croatia get here?
Croatia's path wasn't quite what anybody saw coming. Paired in Group D with Argentina, Nigeria and Iceland, many expected Croatia to move to the knockout stage, but few pegged it to win the group over Argentina and even make it to the finals. They won all their group games by defeating Nigeria 2-0, Argentina 3-0 and Iceland 2-1 to finish top of the group. They met Denmark in the round of 16 and won on penalty kicks following 1-1 draw after 90 minutes, and an additional 30 minutes of extra time. Next Croatia met host, Russia in the quarter finals and played a 1-1 after 90 minutes, while both sides managed to score a goal in extra time to finish 2-2 before eliminating the host on penalties (4-3) to set up a semi final match with England. Depite playing so many minutes in their previous two games, Croatia overcame an early 1-0 deficit in the semis to crush England's dreams by beating them 2-1 in extra time to reach its first World Cup final in history.

Luzhniki Stadium will host the final game, located in Moscow

Some match facts

-The two sides have only encountered each other five times in their history and the advantage is with France having won five games and drawing two.

-This is the third time France will play in a World Cup final, after taking the title in 1998 and losing to Italy in 2006.

-Croatia have never reached a tournament final of any kind. They made the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1998 but lost to France 2-1.

-Eight national teams have won the 20 World Cup tournaments. In the 20 tournaments held, 77 nations have appeared at least once. Of these, 12 have made it to the final match, and eight have won

Competition statistics

Goals scored:

France 10, Croatia 12

Goals against:

France 4, Croatia 5

Total shots:

France 75, Croatia 100

Shots on target:

France 24, Croatia 26

Possession:

France 49 per cent, Croatia 54 per cent

Goals

Kylian Mbappe (France) – 3
Antoine Griezmann (France) – 3
Mario Mandzukic (Croatia) – 2
Ivan Perisic (Croatia) – 2
Luka Modric (Croatia) – 2

Previous World Cup winners:

1930 – Uruguay
1934 – Italy
1938 – Italy
1950 – Uruguay
1954 – West Germany
1958 – Brazil
1962 – Brazil
1966 – England
1970 – Brazil
1974 – West Germany
1978 – Argentina
1982 – Italy
1986 – Argentina
1990 – West Germany
1994 – Brazil
1998 – France
2002 – Brazil
2006 – Italy
2010 – Spain
2014 – Germany