France beat Croatia 4-2 to win 2018 World Cup

France beat Croatia 4-2 to win 2018 World Cup

Jul 16 2018


ARK News: France have been crowned World Cup champions for the second time in their history after defeating Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 final on Sunday.

It was France who took the lead, although fortuitously, after Croatia’s hero in the semifinals Mario Mandzukic headed the ball into his net on 18 minutes.

Croatia responded moments later in the 29th minute through Ivan Perisic.

France regained the lead when Antoine Griezmann scored from the penalty spot on 38 minutes.

The Croatians started the second-half determined to find another equalizer, but it was France who extended their lead when Paul Pogba scored on 59 minutes before Kylian Mbappe added a fourth six minutes later.

Mandzukic took advantage of some showboating from French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to bring the score to 4-2 with 20 minutes left, but the 1998 winners held on to claim their second title.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Belgium defeated England 2-0 to claim third place in the tournament.

Goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard in either half of the match were enough to make sure the Belgians recorded their best finish at a World Cup.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup took place between June 14 and July 15 with 32 teams from five different confederations competing.

As the host nation, Russia received automatic qualification to this summer’s tournament.

The Russians capped off an impressive campaign by reaching the quarterfinals, beating favorites Spain along the way.

The tournament produced some shocking results, including the unexpected exit of defending champions Germany at the group stage as well as early exits for tournament favorites Portugal, Argentina, and Brazil.

Qatar will host the next World Cup in 2022 which will be the first tournament played during the winter (Nov. 21 to Dec. 18, 2022) due to extreme heat in the country during the summer.

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