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Well, that's it, the game at which the entire tournament is built. The final of the world cup. Unfortunately, there will be no participation of Gareth Southgate's Three Lions, but it still looks like a good game.
France played slowly but skillfully throughout tournament, doing the job without – with the exception of a 4-3 win over Argentina – all real fireworks. The Blues will also be the favorites of this match, as Croatia is probably the weakest of the four teams to have qualified for the knockout stages.
Croatia, meanwhile, kept the best until the end. gear against England and deserved winners in the end. They will probably need to find another equipment to gain that equality, but as England has learned, they should not be underestimated.
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Some Deschamps team performances have left fans in the embarrassment, to the point that they were booed after their draw 0-0 against Denmark in the group stage. They have also managed only narrow victories against Australia and Peru, raising serious questions about their potential.
The Blues have made every effort to eliminate Lionel Messi and Argentina in the round of 16 before two other professionals but a few stale victories over Belgium and Uruguay.
This means that we do not really know what to expect from the French. They certainly have a plethora of attacking talent, and have expressed their ability to use that with four goals against Argentina. Having no more reserve of energy, Deschamps can unleash his team against the Croats and make the team to beat for the next tournaments.
Or, more likely, he could stick to his wise approach a lot of success.
Croatia, meanwhile, started very brightly with comfortable wins over Nigeria and Argentina in the group stage to ensure its advancement with a match to play. They looked terribly embarrassed to leave the group, and worked for a 1-1 draw against Denmark.
The penalties improved and Croatia conceded a late equalizer against hosts Russia. Croatia managed another shootout victory, but it seemed less than impressive in the round of 16, and many expected that they would be overthrown by an exuberant team from England.
Croatians have proven their quality with expert performance, even after suffering disappointment. an early goal. The heads did not fall and gradually improved as the game continued, controlling play from half-time.
This time it was Croatia with the late goal in overtime. Final of the World Cup.
Previous Encounters
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The head-to-head is not nice to read for Croatian fans because they have never beat the French. The last two meetings of the teams ended in draws, including the last competitive encounter – a 2-2 draw in the group stage of Euro 2004.
Croatia lost the previous three, including in the semifinals of 1998 World Cup that France won. The current manager of France, Didier Deschamps, was the captain of his country that day, while he ran 2-1 winners to stage a memorable home final.
Croatia took the lead in this match with national icon Davor Suker scoring the opening goal just after halftime. Lilian Thuram equalized for France a minute later and doubled a double in the 70th minute as France reached its first and only World Cup title to date.
Teams Predicted
France (4-2-3-1): Lloris, Pavard, Umtiti, Varane, Hernandez, Pogba, Kante, Mbappe, Griezmann, Matuidi, Giroud
Croatia (4-5) 1-4-1): Subasic, Vrsalijko, Lovren, Vida, Strinic, Brozovic, Rebic, Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Mandzukic
Prediction
As England discovered it , a fairly conservative Croatian formation can quickly become a 4-3-3 forward when they are looking for goals. The power for them is in this talented midfielder, and they will seek to dictate the pace and control the game from the middle of the park.
The problem for them will be to break a rigid French defense, Mario Mandzukic has been a high-level striker over the years, but has never really been known for his cunning or agility. Between Paul Pogba and N & # 39; Golo Kante, France also has a dominant midfield duo that will make things very difficult for Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic
They have the ability to dominate the middle of field and will disrupt the Croatian gameplay, while Mandzukic Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane are the only strikers.
It is difficult to imagine that Croatia is multiplying opportunities to deploy their standard training, because it is a plan apparently completely overtaken by the French approach. . With Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann at the box office, France will have a lot of threat for the goals.
Mbappe was the subject of the last round and is the favorite to win the Golden Ball, he will be a shoo-in for that with a good performance here. Do not underestimate the Croats but, in all respects, this should be a triumph of the World Cup fairly simple for France.
Prediction: France 2-0 Croatia
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