Player Ratings: France 4-2 Croatia - Pogba steps up to steal World Cup final show
After an incident-filled final befitting of a memorable World Cup in Russia, we run through our individual player ratings as France overcame Croatia to lift the trophy for the second time.
FRANCE - 6.86
Hugo Lloris - 5.96 - Made one decent save in the second half but was fortunate his teammates had put the game to bed before gifting Croatia a second goal.
Benjamin Pavard - 6.76 - Showed very little care in possession, completing just 47.8% of his passes, but all in all coped well defensively with the threat that Croatia pose from wide.
Samuel Umtiti - 6.72 - Was in the right place at the right time more often than not to complete seven clearances as Croatia put balls into the France box.
Raphael Varane - 6.44 - Perhaps his weakest performance of an otherwise impressive tournament, failing to keep possession too often but a worthy World Cup winner nonetheless.
Lucas Hernandez - 7.00 - The pick of the France defenders, albeit for his efforts in the attacking third, the full-back registered his second assist of the tournament and completed two dribbles.
Kylian Mbappe - 7.91 - A fourth goal of the tournament in the second half put the game beyond doubt, completing four dribbles to boot in an otherwise relatively low key performance.
N’Golo Kante - 6.02 - Uncharacteristically wasteful, completing just 57.1% of his passes, and while his substitution early in the second half may have seemed a risk France grew into the game thereafter. Received a harsh booking.
Paul Pogba - 8.42 (Man of the Match) - While everyone expected Kante to be the cool head in les Bleus’ midfield Pogba led by example and capped a strong tournament with a first World Cup goal at a crucial point in the match.
Blaise Matuidi - 6.57 - Worked hard, as ever, but offered very little in possession before being withdrawn late on.
Antoine Griezmann - 7.95 - After a slow start Griezmann grew into the game as he did the entire tournament, dispatching a nerveless penalty and delivering a wicked set piece for the first goal.
Olivier Giroud - 7.07 - Not so much as a shot in the game or - as a result - shot on target in the tournament, Giroud did his job of relieving pressure, winning six aerial duels.
Subs: Steven N’Zonzi (6.51), Corentin Tolisso (6.11), Nabil Fekir (6.64).
CROATIA - 6.43
Danijel Subasic - 5.56 - Quite clearly still carrying an injury from the quarter-finals, Subasic didn’t really make an attempt to save any of France’s four goals, lacking the necessary power to spring into dives.
Sime Vrsaljko - 6.20 - Carried his usual threat going forwards but grew frustrated and let it affect his performance thereafter, picking up a booking late on.
Dejan Lovren - 6.11 - Did very little from a defensive standpoint to keep France at bay, although none of the goals conceded were Lovren’s fault.
Domagoj Vida - 6.32 - Croatia’s strongest defender throughout the tournament was so once again but he was unable to prevent France’s four-goal haul.
Ivan Strinic - 5.83 - Coped well in some moments up against Mbappe but all in all lacked the quality of most of those around him and was substituted once again.
Marcelo Brozovic - 6.86 - Sawing plenty of the ball - with a match high of 112 touches - but there were no probing passes among them. Broke up play well with five tackles.
Ante Rebic - 6.55 - Offered a threat on the counter again and forced a decent save from Lloris but not his strongest or liveliest display of the summer.
Luka Modric - 6.90 - Tried to pull the strings for Croatia but was relatively subdued as France sat back on their lead and couldn’t find a breakthrough.
Ivan Rakitic - 6.75 - A typically busy display from the Barcelona star but he also let his frustration get the better of him at times and was wasteful with all three of his attempts at goal off target.
Ivan Perisic - 6.86 - After a fine first half showing and excellent strike to draw Croatia level the winger faded after the break and didn’t really have an impact with no space to exploit.
Mario Mandzukic - 7.16 - A quite typical Mandzukic display. Not pretty. An unfortunate goal at the wrong end, a tackle that found the net at the other, he was his usual handful and arguably Croatia’s strongest performer.
Subs: Andrej Kramaric (6.35), Marko Pjaca (6.10)
