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FULL-TIME, France 4-2 Croatia: So there you have it! Most people had France as their pre-tournament favorites, and their prediction is correct! For Barça fans it’s great to see Umtiti and Dembélé winning the World Cup at such a young age, and Ivan Rakitić deserves a lot of credit for his fantastic run with Croatia. Well done, guys!
GOAL! France 4-2 CROATIA (Mandžukić 69’): Croatia score! Hugo Lloris makes an incredible mistake when trying to play his way out of trouble and Mario Mandžukić scores for Croatia! They won’t, will they?
GOAL! FRANCE 4-1 Croatia (Mbappé 65’): The floodgates are open! France are now well in control thanks to a fantastic run by Lucas Hernández and a great strike by Kylian Mbappé. It’s safe to say now that the French will be World Champions!
GOAL! FRANCE 3-1 Croatia (Pogba 59’): Huge goal for France! Paul Pogba starts the counter attack from his own half with an incredible long pass to Kylian Mbappé, and Pogba himself runs to the edge of the box to score a beautiful left-footed curler and put Les Bleus a lot closer to the title.
SECOND HALF KICKOFF! France 2-1 Croatia: This should be a very fun second half! Come on, Ivan! And Sammy! And Ouz!
HALFTIME, France 2-1 Croatia: What a fun first half! Lots of intensity, great chances and three goals. Plus some VAR controversy! This is very much a 2018 World Cup Final.
GOAL! FRANCE 2-1 Croatia (Griezmann 38’): Griezmann has no issues scoring from the spot, and France lead again!
PENALTY TO FRANCE! Perišić handles the ball on a corner and the penalty is given thanks to VAR!
GOAL! France 1-1 CROATIA (Perišić 28’): CROATIA EQUALIZE! A very nice set piece routine from the Croatians eventually falls to Ivan Perišić, who moves the ball to his left foot and smashes home the equalizer. This Final is good, y’all!
GOAL! FRANCE 1-0 Croatia (Mandžukić O.G. 18’): France takes the lead! Antoine Griezmann wins a free kick, takes it and Mario Mandžukić heads the ball against his own net.
KICKOFF! France 0-0 Croatia: COME ON IVAN! AND SAMMY! AND OUZ!
LINEUPS
FRANCE
Starting XI: Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernández; Mbappé, Pogba, Kanté, Matuidi; Griezmann, Giroud
Bench: Mandanda (GK), Areola (GK), Kimpembé, Rami, Sidibé, Mendy, Lemar, Tolisso, Nzonzi, Fekir, Thauvin, Dembélé
CROATIA
Starting XI: Subašić; Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Strinić; Rakitić, Brozović, Modrić; Perišić, Mandžukić, Rebić
Bench: Livaković (GK), Kalinić (GK), Ćorluka, Jedvaj, Ćaleta-Car, Pivarić, Kovačić, Bradarić, Badelj, Kramarić, Pjaca
It’s the World Cup Final! It’s France vs Croatia! It’s Samuel Umtiti, Ousmane Dembélé and Ivan Rakitić representing Barcelona! This should be an incredible game of football, and you cannot miss it! And we’ll have a LIVE BLOG!
(Note: the comments will be open as soon as the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section)
MATCH INFO
Date/Time: Sunday, July 15, 2018, 5pm CET (Barcelona), 4pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 11am EST, 8am PST (USA), 8.30pm IST (India)
Venue: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM WORLD CUP FINAL
How to watch on TV: FOX (USA), BBC One, ITV 1 (UK), SuperSport 3 (Nigeria), Sony ESPN (India), TSN (Canada), others
How to stream: BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub (UK), FuboTV (click here to sign up)
Matchday Thread Rules
We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:
Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, no swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do will be warned, and those who post links will be banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another, especially when it’s the World Cup.
Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!