France vs. Croatia presents a succulent tactical World Cup chess match



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The World Cup final is almost here, and with that, a look at the tactical skills of each side is at hand.

France has done just enough to sneak up to now. five wins at this point by a goal. However, they find themselves in the final against Croatia as favorites thanks to a selection of stars that has evolved on many levels up to now in Russia.

Didier Deschamps is at this point stuck with a standard 4-5-1 formation allows the team to stay compact on the defensive, control the midfield and choose the opportunities in the front . Kylian Mbappe has been given the flexibility to take the players on the right and find teammates in the middle. Against Belgium, France was ready to concede 64% of possession to the opponents and allow Mbappe to create opportunities for the other attackers.

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This presents a different challenge for Croatian boss Zlatko Dalic He faced England, when Croatia stretched Gareth Southgate midfielder with a high quality backgammon. It will not work as well against 4-3-3, which means that Sime Vrsaljko and Ivan Strinic will have to stay home. It will be interesting to see if Deschamps continues to deploy Blaise Matuidi on the right to defend Ante Rebic and seek to beat Vrsaljko, or if he will change things and get Ousmane Dembele to pin Vrsaljko with his pace and technical abilities. Matuidi appeared to suffer from a significant head injury in the semifinal against Belgium, but reports indicate that he is still vying to play Sunday.

The imbalance of France with Matuidi on one side and Mbappe on the other. but he also presented some problems. For his part, he sometimes exposed the defender Benjamin Pavard, who held up for most, but sometimes seemed overwhelmed. On the other side of the back line, Lucas Hernandez has been sensational in defending the left, but his offensive presence is minimal, and apart from a cross or two of quality, his defensive state of mind and style heavy Matuidi leaves France incredibly unbalanced. This means that Vrsaljko and Rebic could potentially see much of the ball again, stretching France's midfielder in the same way as England.

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Another problem for France could be that Antoine Griezmann did not seem quite comfortable behind Olivier Giroud, and played in places this World Cup, with two of his three goals this tournament coming from the penalty spot.

However, all the problems are minimized when a team has no Golo Kante marauding in the middle of the field. The presence of Kante gives France a head start on the elimination of the best Croatian duo Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric. The latter has mostly played under the bright Russian lights this summer, and has mostly roared the strongest in the second half of the matches when given more freedom to go forward. Modric has shown a desire to go ahead and make a difference, unless he is instructed to bademble the midfielder with Rakitic. For the most part, the presence of defensive midfielder Marcelo Brozovic had a noticeable impact on Modric's mastery. In about 90 minutes, Brozovic was on the bench – the first hour of the opening of the group against Nigeria and the first half of their quarter-final match against Russia – Modric was visibly reluctant to move into offensive positions. Expect Brozovic to leave so that Croatia can hope to match Kante and Paul Pogba's French midfielder, leaving Modric and Rakitic to try to extend Kante in double play.

The last tactical battle will be in the French repair area. He faces Mario Mandzukic, an extraordinary poacher, against Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane, air defenders. In the semifinal, Belgium beat the French penalty area with 26 crosses, of which only five have reached their mark – four of which came to the penalty spot or out. Croatia's approach against England was similar, subjecting the Three Lions defense to the football equivalent of an artillery bombardment, attempting 40 crosses in their semi-final . Only three of them were successful, but one helped equalizer in the 60th minute of Ivan Perisic

No Golo Kante waits for all of looks into his midfield bout against Modric and Perisic, but Didier Deschamps still has a lot to say. with. France will have the full hands of the deserving finalists Croatia, and the match of failures that will ensue Sunday in Moscow will be simply fascinating.

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