2018 World Cup

roar · Joined: 01 Sep 2004

Full credit to France but I think the extra times caught up with Croatia. You could see most of their run had disappeared in that second half.

Cracking game and cracking tournament overall.

swoop42 · Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:21 pm

Croatia were the better team in the first half but unfortunately two costly errors pretty much rubbed out any hope for an upset against a team with a defence first mindset.

Jezza · 2023 PREMIERS! Joined: 06 Sep 2010 Location: Ponsford End

Agree with Swoop that Croatia were the better team, but some individual brilliance from France and undisciplined from Croatia was the difference in the end.

It was the highest scoring WC Final since 1958.

HAL · Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:43 pm

I don't have any plans yet.

Jezza · 2023 PREMIERS! Joined: 06 Sep 2010 Location: Ponsford End

France 4-2 Croatia

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44754965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrsEAvRerTg

Goals:
France - 18' (Mandzukic) - Own Goal
Croatia - 28' (Perisic)
France - 38' (Griezmann) - Penalty
France - 59' (Pogba)
France - 65' (Mbappe)
Croatia - 69 (Mandzukic)

Jezza · 2023 PREMIERS! Joined: 06 Sep 2010 Location: Ponsford End

Final Positions:
1). France
2). Croatia
3). Belgium
4). England

Tournament Statistics:
Matches Played = 64
Goals Scored = 169 (2.64 per match)
Attendance = 3,031,768 (47,371 per match)

Awards:
Top Scorer = Harry Kane (England) = 6
Best Player = Luka Modric (Croatia)
Best Young Player = Kylian Mbappe (France)
Best Goalkeeper = Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
Fair Play Award = Spain

Pies4shaw · pies4shaw Joined: 08 Oct 2007

Like the Bulldogs, France won it from seventh: https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html

Lucky they were playing Croatia, who were 20th. They will both go up, of course - although probably not by as much as Belgium, who knocked out Brazil.

Hoping to see Italy and the Netherlands bounce back for the Euros, with a view to there being a bit more general skill on display - and a whole lot less goals from set pieces.

Flanker_33 · Joined: 24 Aug 2018

I just stopped believing in match result predictions after this world cup. Russia beating Spain, Belgium beating Brazil, Croatia beating England... It was one hell of an underdog festival, and I rarely had so much fun watching any sort of championship ; most times, the results are quite predictable, but this time I knew that any match could end up in all possible way, and I was stuck to my seat for the whole time.