FIFA World Cup 2018: France’s journey so far, player to watch out for; what are the odds of them winning the final

The French national team began to play in 1904, scored the first goal in FIFA World Cup history in 1930, the French team won its first and only World Cup title in 1998. The tournament was played on home soil and France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the final match. The tournament was hosted in France once before in 1938, where France was eliminated by defending champions Italy in the quarter finals. In 2006, France finished as runners-up, losing on penalties (5-3) to Italy after the game was tied 1-1 after 120 minutes.

 

Key player

ANTOINE GRIEZMANN

The France forward will be out to make his mark on another major competition, having been top scorer and player of the tournament at UEFA EURO 2016. Griezmann provided four goals and four assists for Les Bleus in the Russia 2018 qualifiers.

Route to finale

France football team won their first two group games without showing their best form as Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba were not playing, they however beat Australia by 2-1 and Peru by 1-0 Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal of the game in the defeat of Peru. After resting players for their final group game, a goalless draw with Denmark secured top spot.

In the knock-out stages, however, France have stepped up their game starting with their thrilling win against Argentina. Mbappe stole the headlines with two goals and France held on to win. They defeated Argentina by 4-3.

France had a big clash with Uruguay but they were able to beat them by 2-0, though it can be easily seem that by the absence of Cavani at the Uruguay side played a key role in their win.

Hugo Lloris made a brilliant save to keep France in front at the interval. And France booked their place in the final with another set-piece goal against Belgium in the semi-final Samuel Umtiti heading in the only goal of the game.

Why France will win

If France were to win on Sunday, Didier Deschamps would become only the third man after Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer to win the world title both as a player and as a coach.

They also have a great defence because only 4 goals have been scored against France throughout the FIFA World Cup 2018

Unlike their rivals Croatia, France have never played extra time in this World Cup, Croatia have.

They have some best players in the team like Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba who can cause a lot of damage if messed with. But they also have Mbappe the young man who has scored 3 goals in his first FIFA World Cup.

Why France will lose

The most important thing to note down is that France have never played extra time so they do not have a good idea about playing in extra time at FIFA World cup 2018, Croatia who have a good experience with extra time can take advantage in those few minutes.

France should also keep their cool if they want to win this game because just like them their rival team has also not been defeated so far in FIFA World Cup 2018. They also defeated Argentina by 3-0.