Néstor Pitana will referee the World Cup final.
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During that tournament they lost 2-1 to France in the semifinals.
“‘Sometimes in football you lose, that’s football, but we were dignified in our victories and we must be dignified in defeat, we have to respect the scoreline, ‘ that was the message to my players”.
“With France passing all these laws against Islamic practices, let’s not forget it’s these same Muslims players who helped win #WorldCup2018”, one Twitter user wrote. “Sometimes I can be hard very hard with them but I do it for them and even though they are young they usually do listen”.
Others continued waving Croatian flags and scarves through the disappointment after watching their country play in the World Cup final for the first time.
France had also taken the lead in controversial manner as it appeared as though Griezmann dived to win his side the freekick from which they scored.
In second half two spectacular goals from midfielder Paul Pogba and teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe gave France a comfortable 4-1 lead before Mario Mandzukic capitalized on a goalkeeping error from French captain Hugo Lloris to cut the goals deficit to 4-2.
Ibrahima Kaba arrived early to watch the game with a group of friends.
“We’ve become accustomed to thinking possession is the dominating factor in the game because of what Spain and Pep Guardiola have done but it’s changed a bit in this World Cup”.
Only 12 countries had ever played in a World Cup Final before today.
President Emmanuel Macron was pictured cheering from the stadium, got drenched in the rain on the pitch, then attempted to “dab” with the players in the changing room on Sunday (Jul 15) after France’s victory in the World Cup.
“I am really happy”, he said.
Deschamps sees no reason why France would have an easier time against the Real Madrid star in Sunday’s final, simply because they have already coped with Hazard’s Belgium and Messi’s Argentina in the knockout phase.
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Ivan Perisic, who scored his side’s equalizer and set up Mario Mandzukic’s victor against England on Wednesday, is nursing a thigh injury.
