{"id":1217,"date":"2018-07-15T12:10:21","date_gmt":"2018-07-15T06:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/?p=1217"},"modified":"2018-07-15T12:10:21","modified_gmt":"2018-07-15T06:40:21","slug":"world-cup-final-preview-france-vs-croatia-teamspreviews-and-prediction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/2018\/07\/15\/world-cup-final-preview-france-vs-croatia-teamspreviews-and-prediction\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup final preview: France vs Croatia Teams,Previews and Prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2018 World Cup in Russia will be concluded on Sunday with France targeting their second trophy against a Croatia outfit competing in their first ever final.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The biggest game in world football is upon us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

France and Croatia will fight for the greatest prize of all in Moscow on Sunday.<\/p>\n

2018 World Cup
\nDate: 15 July 2018
\nFinal<\/p>\n

Kick-off: 17H00 (GMT+2)
\nVenue: Stadion Luzhniki
\nReferee: N. Pitana
\nAssistants: H. Maidana, J. Belatti<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Team news:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

France are likely to field an unchanged starting XI, with Blaise Matuidi expected to be fit despite going off injured against Belgium.<\/p>\n

Croatia have no major injury concerns despite having played three 120-minute matches.<\/p>\n

Dalic said on Saturday: “We have some minor injuries but I hope we will overcome those today and all my players will be ready to play.<\/p>\n

“We created such a group where they will concede and will say ‘I have to miss the final’. If they are not ready we have great players on the bench who are rearing to go.”<\/p>\n

France also have no injury worries and are likely to stick with the same side that beat Belgium in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Croatia should be able to start with Ivan Strinic and Mario Mandzukic despite both going off with injuries against England.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Possible line-ups<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nFrance: Hugo Lloris; Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Hernandez; Paul Pogba, Ngolo Kante; Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Blaise Matuidi; Olivier Giroud.<\/p>\n

Croatia: Danijel Subasic; Sime Vrsaljko, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Ivan Strinic; Ivan Rakitic, Marcelo Brozovic; Ante Rebic, Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic; Mario Mandzukic.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

France vs Croatia \u2013 Players to look out for:<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 #10 \u2013 France (Paris Saint-Germain)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The teenage sensation will once again be France\u2019s key player. Against Argentina, the 19-year-old became the first teenager since Pel\u00e9 to score two goals in a World Cup knockout match. Mbapp\u00e9 will also be the first teenager to feature in a World Cup final since Ronaldo was in the 1994 FIFA World Cup Brazil side. But unlike the famous Brazilian \u2013 Ronaldo did not play feature in any of the matches at the 1994 World Cup \u2013 Mbapp\u00e9 will not witness the match from the bench but instead be France\u2019s key player. In a side that is defined through its collective defensive approach, Mbapp\u00e9 will provide the creative attacking outlet in the transition game that will be key against a physical Croatia side.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Luka Modri\u0107 #10 \u2013 Croatia (Real Madrid)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Luka Modri\u0107 is the brain of this Croatia side. The Real Madrid midfielder has, in fact, made a decent claim to become the player of the tournament. An elegant midfielder Modri\u0107 keeps this team of individuals together. Used both as a number ten and a number eight by Dali\u0107 Modri\u0107 is both an attacking threat but also a team player, who is not shy to track back to fulfil defensive tasks. Overall, however, Dali\u0107 seems to be convinced that Modri\u0107 best serves this team in a more forward role \u2013 despite, the fact, that he was used as a defensive midfielder against England. Against France\u2019s defensive collective Modri\u0107 will likely feature as a number ten tasked with deciphering France\u2019s defensive code by coming up with the key moment that could decide the 2018 FIFA World Cup final.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

France\u00a0\u2013 Antoine Griezmann<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kylian Mbappe might have grabbed most of the headlines for France in Russia, but Griezmann is the go-to star when it comes to the biggest games. He has scored or assisted 11 goals in nine matches in the knockout rounds of major tournaments for his country, which is more than any other French player for the last 50 years.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Croatia\u00a0\u2013 Ivan Rakitic<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Modric makes Croatia tick, but Rakitic makes that possible. His positional awareness is essential in allowing his teammate enough time on the ball to dictate play. Rakitic has also produced star performances at club level when winning the Europa League and Champions League finals, so there are few more capable big-game players.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Head to head history<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The two nations have met five times, and Croatia have never beaten France.<\/p>\n

Their first meeting came at the 1998 World Cup, with Les Bleus winning 2-1 in the semi-finals en route to lifting the famous trophy on home soil.<\/p>\n

France then won friendlies in 1999 (3-0) and 2000 (2-0).<\/p>\n

However, their last two meetings have ended in draws – a 2-2 draw at Euro 2004, and a goalless stalemate in 2011.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Croatia vs Fatigue:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Croatia have played 120 minutes in all three knockout games, and Dalic will need to assess the fitness of his squad with fatigue likely to be an issue.<\/p>\n

Ivan Perisic, who was outstanding for Croatia in the semi-final, is reportedly struggling with a thigh injury.<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that France have won all of their games in 90 minutes and also have an extra day to rest between the semis and the final.<\/p>\n

Neither side will have any players suspended for the final, while the French squad has a clean bill of health.<\/p>\n

It may be a different matter for Croatia though, with plenty of players feeling the strain after every one of their knockout games has gone to extra time – Ivan Strinic may well be a doubt after limping off with what appeared to be a groin issue in extra time against England.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Opta stats<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

France and Croatia have faced five times previously, with France winning three of those games (in 1998, 1999 and 2000) and the other two games ending as draws (2004 and 2011).<\/p>\n

Two of France and Croatia’s five meetings have been at major tournaments. France won 2-1 against Croatia in the semi-final of the 1998 World Cup – Deschamps playing the full match – while their meeting at Euro 2004 ended in a 2-2 draw in the group stage.<\/p>\n

The last three World Cup finals have all gone to extra-time. However, historically, only two of the showpiece games have ever been decided on penalties (1994, 2006).<\/p>\n

France have trailed for just nine minutes and 12 seconds at the 2018 World Cup, while Croatia have been behind in all three of their knockout matches.<\/p>\n

Antoine Griezmann has scored or assisted 11 goals in nine knockout games at major tournaments (World Cup + Euro), more than any other player for France over the last 50 years ahead of Zinedine Zidane (8) and Michel Platini (6).<\/p>\n

France’s Kylian Mbappe will be looking to become only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final after Pele, in 1958. Mbappe (3 goals) is already the highest scoring teenager in a World Cup tournament since Pele (6 in 1958).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Predictions:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Croatia 2-1 (win in extra time) <\/p>\n<\/div><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2018 World Cup in Russia will be concluded on Sunday with France targeting their second trophy against a Croatia outfit competing in their first ever final. The biggest game in world football is upon us. France and Croatia will fight for the greatest prize of all in Moscow on Sunday. 2018 World Cup Date: 15 July 2018 Final Kick-off: 17H00 (GMT+2) Venue: Stadion Luzhniki Referee: N. Pitana Assistants: H. Maidana, J. Belatti<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":1226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[444,522,407,523,524,525,441,516,517,528,526,520,408,527,521,518,519],"class_list":["post-1217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-antoine-griezmann","tag-blaise-matuidi-olivier-giroud","tag-croatia","tag-danijel-subasic-sime-vrsaljko","tag-dejan-lovren","tag-domagoj-vida","tag-france","tag-france-vs-croatia","tag-hugo-lloris-benjamin-pavard","tag-ivan-perisic-mario-mandzukic","tag-ivan-strinic-ivan-rakitic","tag-lucas-hernandez-paul-pogba","tag-luka-modric","tag-marcelo-brozovic-ante-rebic","tag-ngolo-kante-kylian-mbappe","tag-raphael-varane","tag-samuel-umtiti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}