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Excited French and Croatian fans came down to Moscow to watch their countries face off to win the World Cup.
France remain favorites to lift the trophy, but Croatia could upset them after beating England on Wednesday to return to their first World Cup final.
The small Balkan nation of only 4.2 million people was caught in football fever as it swept more imaginary opponents to the final of the tournament, which Russia is hosting this year.
Kolinda Grabar, Croatian President -Kitarovic gave his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a Croatian football jersey with "Putin" printed on his back Sunday, a few hours before the match in Moscow, while Putin presented him with a bouquet of flowers .
Croatia eliminated Russia in the quarter-finals.
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Excited French and Croat fans went to Moscow to see their countries face off in the final of the FIFA World Cup World
The national team of the country faces France in the final of the World Cup
A fan pays tribute to the stadium Luzhniki from Moscow, where Croatia will face France for the first time in the World Cup
-Kitarovic has entered the spirit of the occasion by traveling to Russia to attend matches and to be sure dress in the colors of the national flag.
At a meeting in the Kremlin, Putin congratulated Grabar-Kitarovic for the performance of the Croatian team
"I'm sure we'll see a nice match today", he declared.
Grabar-Kitarovic thanked Putin for what she said was the successful organization of the competition.
Putin also met French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte on Sunday.
The presidents of Croatia and France will again be in the stands to support their teams with pop stars like Mick Jagger and a host of legends of the game.
But the Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic, absent from the first week of the World Cup after refusing to participate in the opening game of the team against Nigeria, will be absent.
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic gave his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a Croatian football jersey with "Putin" printed on his back ” clbad=”blkBorder img-share” />