France is the new FIFA World Cup Champion, beats Croatia 4-2 in final

France are 2018 FIFA World Champions after beating Croatia 4-2 in World Cup Final.

France has a 4-2 lead over Croatia after 70 minutes of a World Cup final that has featured a series of firsts including an own goal and a penalty awarded after a video review. And a pitch invasion that Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot has claimed responsibility for.

Earlier, Paul Pogba had given France a 3-1 lead over Croatia in the World Cup final with a goal in the 59th minute.


France had a 2-1 lead over Croatia courtesy of the first own-goal and the first video-reviewed penalty in a World Cup final. The own-goal off the top of Mario Mandzukic's head was the 12th of the tournament. That's double the previous World Cup record of six.

Croatia rallied to equalize on a terrific left-foot strike by Ivan Perisic, but France took the lead right back when Perisic handled the ball in the area. Argentine referee Nestor Pitana initially didn't call the handball but spoke into his headset with colleagues in the video booth, then made the box-shaped symbol for a video review. He awarded the spot kick shortly afterward, which Antoine Griezmann sent into the net to put France back in front.


This is the first World Cup in which video review has been used.