To the displeasure of many, the 2018 FIFA World Cup was staged at 12 venues across Russia, including the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, where the final was played, between June 14 amd July 15, 2018. Victory ultimately went to France, who won an entertaining final against Crotia 4-2, courtesy of an own goal by Mario Mandžukić and further goals by Antoine Griezmann, from the penalty spot, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé. In fact, Mbappé became the first teenager since Pelé, in 1958, to score in a World Cup final.
France began their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Australia at the Kazan Arena, the sides trading second-half penalties before a late own goal by Australian left-back Aziz Behich settled the outcome. Les Blues likewise beat Peru by the odd goal, 1-0, in their second group match and a non-descript goalless draw with Denmark in their third was sufficient for both teams to advance to the knockout stage, with France topping Group C.
The round of 16 tie against Argentina was a seven-goal thriller, with France coming from 2-1 down to win 4-3 after a goal from Benjamin Pavard and a brace from Kylian Mbappé in the second half. The quarter-final against Uruguay at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium was rather more straightforward, with unanswered goals from Raphaël Varane and Antoine Griezmann, either side of half-time, enough to take France into the semi-finals.
In their semi-final, France faced Belgium, conquerors of Brazil in their quarter-final, at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg on July 10, 2018. French centre-back Samuel Umtiti chose a good time to score his first goal of the tournament, squeezing a glancing header past Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois at his near post from an Antoine Griezmann corner early in the second half. Despite further chances at both ends, that single goal proved decisive amd France headed to Moscow for the World Cup final. After that final, head coach Didier Deschamps, who won the World Cup as a player in 1998, said, “What people will remember is that France is world champion, that means we did things better than others.”