The FIFA World Cup Final 2018 Match Preview and Prediction
France and Croatia face off today, 15th July 2018 in the final of the FIFA world cup to decide the winner of the competition. Croatia head into the final having dug deep in all three of its knockout games, with all games having gone to extra time, and two of them (Denmark and Russia) having been decided on post-match penalties.
The French will be heavy favourites to win the final and the tournament, after dispatching Argentina, Uruguay, and Belgium, it is obvious that they have played better teams than Croatia and triumphed, and they are yet to play any game longer than the normal 90 minutes.
Players to Watch
For France, Kylian Mbappe has been electric at times in this tournament, especially when given space to run into on the counter. Croatia’s fullback Strinic will have to be very conservative in his positioning and not allow Mbappe space to run with the ball.
Croatia will have their talisman and one of the favourites to win the player of the tournament, Luca Modric to rely on to win the game. He has run the most kilometres of any footballer in the tournament, and the French midfielders N’golo Kante and Paul Pogba will have to shadow him all game and not give him space and time to run the tempo of the game.
France will have Ousmane Dembele and Nabil Fekir to call on should they need a goal late in the game, while Croatia has Kramaric as a plan B.
Prediction: Croatia have made it to the final through grit, determination and a never say attitude against tricky opposition such as Denmark, Russia, and England. However, France is simply a team that is a level above any team that Croatia has faced in this competition. With Mbappe, Griezmann, and Pogba in the attack, France will fancy their chances to win this game in the normal ninety minutes, and it would be one of the all-time shocks of the world cup if they were to fall to Croatia. I think France will win this one 2-0.
