World Cup 2018: France continue celebrations as Croatia come to terms with defeat

You have to feel for Luka Modric. His performances over the last four weeks have, on occasion, captured the imagination and confirmed his status as one of the world’d best players. Yet what a year he’s had, despite missing out on a World Cup winners’ medal. Champions League winner, Golden Ball winner… Ballon d’Or winner? It’s a tough one to make a case against.

Mbappé got an 8 in the Guardian’s player ratings with an “outstanding” note to boot. But he wasn’t France’s best player on the night. We’re not supposed to do clickbait, but you’ll never guess who got a 9 (you will). Find out here!

No surprises that Mbappé was named the young player of the tournament.

Barney Ronay writes:

“In Antoine Griezmann’s set‑piece expertise, Paul Pogba’s easy craft and Kylian Mbappé’s extreme qualities of simply being like Kylian Mbappé France had enough controlled fantasy whenever their opponents showed signs of resistance. A brief word here about Mbappé. Blimey. Whoah. Cripes. Actually that is three. But you get the idea. What are we going to do with this kid? He is simply irresistible, not just a pure, brilliantly fearless talent, with a genuine sprinter’s technique that allows him to glide away in the smallest of spaces. He is also a joy to watch, a footballer of real charm and warmth, who still seems to be having the most wonderful time, playing with friends in the middle of all that epic-scale tension.”

I missed this earlier, but Adil Rami has announced his retirement from international football, following Les Bleus’ win. The 32-year-old Marseille defender did not play a single minute of the campaign in Russia, but can still call himself a world champion. Not a bad way to go out.

Here’s Martha Kelner and Shaun Walker with their take on last night, including the revelation that the World Cup trophy arrived at the stadium in its new Louis Vuitton travel case.

“The sky above was dark grey with flashes of thunder as the rain-, sweat- and euphoria-soaked French team lifted the trophy during a chaotic presentation ceremony. The winners’ medals were presented by Putin shielded by a black umbrella as an almighty downpour pierced a sticky, humid afternoon in the Russian capital. Macron remained uncovered and was wringing out his navy blue suit jacket on the pitch afterwards.”

The big news, though, is that with Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé and Mario Mandzukic all managing to score just one each (in the right net) on the night, the Golden Boot belongs to Harry Kane. He had already landed in Birmingham by the time the final whistle tooted in Moscow though, so he’s going to have to rely on Почта России (the Russian postal system) to get his gong to him in London.

France’s victory has prompted comparisons to 1998, when Aimeé Jacquet guided his side, which contained Didier Deschamps, to the summit of the world. Those comparisons might have been in the mind of L’Equipe’s editor too, judging by the headline in this morning’s paper.

World Cup finals, like all games really, can be won by fine margins. The smallest of details. How fine were those margins in the final? I’d contest pretty fine, given the VAR decision that awarded Antoine Griezmann the chance to score from the spot came with the game delicately poised at 1-1. Who knows which direction the game would have gone if the referee, Néstor Pitana, had opted not to penalise Ivan Perisic for his dangling arm. As David Hytner writes from the Luzhniki Stadium:

“The slow-motion replays looked bad for Perisic and it became clear what kind of a conclusion Pitana would reach. Griezmann scored the penalty and Croatia could smoulder with injustice. It was a borderline decision and, this time, there would be no way back for Zlatko Dalic and his band of fighters.”

From the ecstasy of the French, to the agony of the Croatians. How are they bearing up after having been so close to glory, yet in the end so far? Well, according to Una Hajdari in Zagreb, not too bad. “I feel great. We still made history, even thought we did not become champions,” said one fan, while another said: “We are sad, but second place is still a big deal for Croatia. We’ll all forget about it all once they come home tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, in Birmingham….

And the Croatian president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, has received no small amount of praise for her role in Russia during the tournament. This tweet rather sums it up nicely.

They say politics and football shouldn’t mix, but like it or not, the two are inextricably linked. Putting aside any cynicism for a moment, at least Emmanuel Macron appears to be a genuine fan of Les Blues.

So, it’s becoming apparent who last night’s pitch invaders were: Pussy Riot. Three women and one man were dragged away (with help from Dejan Lovren), while Kylian Mbappé opted to high-five one of the women rather than manhandle her off the pitch. “The citizens in question were taken to the local police station,” the Moscow branch of the Russian Interior Ministry said. Other than that statement, there is no further word from the police as yet.

That wasn’t the only unruly French behaviour of the night, though, not by any stretch. The French players allowed themselves a moment of public inhibition when they gatecrashed Didier Deschamps’ post-match press conference to mount a desk – with the elan of a England fan clambering up a double decker bus – and spray champagne all about the place, no doubt to the delight of the congregated journalists with their cheap, waterproof equipment.

Great scenes on the last night as one million fans filled Champs-Élysées to celebrate their team’s victory. This, from Angelique Chrisafis in Paris, has the full story, although it’s not clear whether the “tears” in fans’ eyes was due to the emotion of the night, or indeed the tear gas fired off by French police in response to having projectiles hurled at them.

As we ease ourselves in, allow Max Rushden and guests to fill your ears with their thoughts on the final, another penalty, another controversial VAR incident, the tournament’s highs and lows and “players taking shots to the conkers”.