FIFA World Cup Final 2018

General

• The World Cup is the 18-carat gold, 14-inch, 11 lb trophy.
• It was the 21st final of the FIFA World Cup.
• The final match of FIFA World Cup held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, on 15 July 2018.
• There was a penalty awarded to France by the video assistant referee in the system's first use at a World Cup final.
• It was the first time that an own goal had been scored (by Mario Mandžukić of Croatia) in a World Cup final and the 12th of the tournament, the most of any World Cup.
• The first half's three goals were the most of any World Cup final since 1974.
• It was the highest-scoring final since England beat West Germany 4-2 in 1966.
• The match was also the ninth all-European World Cup final, which most recently occurred in 2006 and 2010.
• An audience of 78,011 spectators at the Luzhniki Stadium watched the match.
• It includes ten heads of state.
• The prominent among them are Russian president Vladimir Putin, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

FIFA awards for the 2018 World Cup

• Best Player Golden Ball: Luka Modric (Croatia)
• Silver Ball: Eden Hazard (Belgium)
• Bronze Ball: Antoine Griezmann (France)
• Top Goal Scorer Golden Boot: Harry Kane (England), six goals
• Silver Boot: Antoine Griezmann (France), four goals and two assists
• Bronze Boot: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), four goals
• Best Goalkeeper Golden Glove: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
• Best Young Player FIFA Young Player: Kylian Mbappe (France)
• Fairest Team FIFA Fair Play Trophy: Spain
• Man of The Match (FINAL) Antoine Griezmann (France)

France

• France beat Croatia 4-2 in the Final match.
• This was the second title World Cup won by France, with the previous one coming 20 years ago in 1998.
• The match was the third World Cup final for France, first appearing in the 1998 final as hosts, winning 3–0 against reigning champions Brazil.
• France also contested the 2006 final, where they lost to Italy in a penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw.
• Only Germany (eight) and Italy (six) have reached more finals among European nations.
• France also became the second team in the 32-team World Cup after Brazil in 2002 to win all their knockout matches without any extra time or penalty shoot-out.
• As winners, France earned the right to compete for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.
• France became the sixth country to win the World Cup more than once after Brazil (5), Germany/West Germany and Italy (4), Uruguay and Argentina (2).
• Mbappe of France became the first teenage after Pele (Brazil) in 1958 to score in World Cup final.
• Didier Deschamps of France became the third person to have won the World Cup as both a player and manager, after Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) and Mário Zagallo (Brazil).
• The average age of the French side was 25 years and 10 months.
• Only Brazil in 1970 (25 years and 9 months) won the World Cup with a younger squad.
• France became the first team to score four goals in a World Cup final since Brazil beat Italy 4-1 in 1970.

Croatia

• Croatia were playing in their very first World Cup final in their fifth World Cup appearance.
• Croatia is the first team to lose in their first ever appearance in a World Cup final since the Netherlands in 1974 (1-2 vs West Germany).
• They are the 10th European country and 13th overall to reach a World Cup final, and the first new finalist since Spain in 2010.
• With a population of 4.17 million, Croatia is the second smallest country to play in a World Cup final, behind Uruguay (victors in 1930 and 1950).
• Croatia became the third Eastern European nation to reach the World Cup final, and the first since Czechoslovakia lost the final in 1962 to Brazil.
• Croatia's best showing before this year was when they reached the Semi Finals in 1998 against France in which they lost against the host France.
• Mandzukic of Croatia is the second player in World Cup history to score a goal and an own goal in a single game after Ernie Brandts for the Netherlands against Italy in 1978.