France beat Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final in Moscow. It was an exciting end to a very successful tournament. France also won the World Cup in 1998. French coach Didier Deschamps became the third man to win as a player and coach. The final was a great event that had good football, controversial refereeing decisions, an own goal, a pitch invasion, and a big goalkeeping mistake. Billions of people watched on TV as France slowly controlled the game. Their talented team included the next global superstar - the speedy 19-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe.
Croatia were best early on in the game and looked like scoring first. However, France got a free kick after 18 minutes which was deflected in for an own goal by Croatia's Mario Mandzukic. Croatia equalized 10 minutes later with a quality shot from Ivan Perisic. France restored its lead from the penalty spot after the referee reviewed video evidence of a handball. Two goals from Paul Pogba and Mbappe extended France's lead. An error from France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in the 69th minute gave Croatia hope, but France held on to win.