Croatia’s miraculous World Cup 2018 run continues with a final match against France due to be played on Sunday, July 15th at 17:00 at Luzhniki Stadium (Moscow).
France vs Croatia 1998
That 1998 game remains engraved in football fans’ memory as the Lilian Thuram game. Davor Suker opened the scoring early in the second half, only for Thuram to equalize a minute later with his first-ever national team goal. The French defender was not done. Twenty minutes later, he scored again, giving Les Bleus the lead and the eventual win. The 1998 World Cup was played in France, so the Croatians were huge underdogs heading into the contest. Nevertheless, they showed tremendous spirit and were on a level playing field with the hosts. It is why the loss was so devastating, other than the fact it would’ve been Croatia’s first World Cup final.
France vs Croatia 2018
Twenty years later, Croatia’s second golden generation has earned another crack at the French, only this time on a neutral playing ground with gold as the winning prize.
It took quite an effort to get there too, the type we haven’t seen in World Cup history before. Three straight extra times, two penalty shootouts and a 109th-minute goal by Mario Mandzukic is what Croatia had to survive in order to get to the final – a path completely opposite of France’s. Didier Deschamps’ risk-free tactic might not have worked in a different year, but in 2018, it’s been ideal. Other than Argentina, it has been cruise control until this point. Even then, France looked comfortable, leaving little doubt it’ll eventually prevail, which it did.
How they got here?
FRANCE
Group stage
France 2 – 1 Australia
France 1 – 0 Peru
France 0 – 0 Denmark
Knockout stage
France 4 – 3 Argentina
France 2 – 0 Uruguay
France 1 – 0 Belgium
CROATIA
Group stage
Croatia 2 – 0 Nigeria
Croatia 3 – 0 Argentina
Croatia 2 – 1 Iceland
Knockout stage
Croatia 1 – 1 Denmark (3-2 on penalty kicks)
Croatia 2 – 2 Russia (4-3 on penalty kicks)
Croatia 2 – 1 England (after extra time)
France vs Croatia preview
France has faced criticism for its tactical approach during this World Cup. They were involved in the only 0-0 draw (against Denmark), a game in which fans were asking for their money back. They were lucky to play a Cavani-less Uruguay and have their centre-backs Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti to thank for progressing to the final. Their headers were the ones which presented France with the option to play with freedom in both the quarter-final and the semi-final. Belgium’s players were particularly critical of the French.
“I would have preferred to have lost in the quarter-finals to Brazil, at least that was a team that wanted to play football. [France] are just an anti-football team.” – Thibaut Courtois
“I prefer to lose with this Belgium than win with this France. But they do defend strongly and are very efficient. We have not found their weak point. That little moment of magic needed to score was not there.” – Eden Hazard
Croatia has been rather streaky. At times, they look very impressive, but other times, they get sucked into a wormhole of leisure and monotony. Their second halves have been like a pendulum swing. Against Denmark, Zlatko Dalic’s men looked lost, against Russia and England, they dominated.
France vs Croatia prediction
Croatia was in the weaker part of the draw, so it’s difficult to assess how these two teams compare at the moment. They do share meetings with the same opponents in Denmark and Argentina, although those matches can’t really be used to predict what will happen on Sunday. One thing’s for certain – Croatia are not allowed to fall into monotony mode, especially against a France team capable of making opponents appear disinterested.
There are plenty of other factors heading into this contest. Croatia’s energy resources must be drained by now. France, on the other hand, did not have to play a single extra minute of football. Ivan Strinic and Mario Mandzukic had to exit the game with England because of muscle injuries and while “Super Mario” will feature, Strinic is questionable. Josip Pivaric would take his spot in case Strinic’s unavailable. Vengeance is definitely on the cards as well, as the Croatians will have additional motivation to avenge that 1998 loss.
Croatia’s defence did an excellent job stopping England’s prolific attack, but Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann represent a different type of challenge. As much as “Vatreni” would like to win, Les Bleus will be fresher and should come out on top.