World Cup: Road to the final

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France play Croatia in the World Cup final at Moscow ’s Luzhniki Stadium on
Sunday . Here is each team ’ s path to the showpiece match.
France
Group stage
France had a helping hand from the video assistant referee (VAR ) in their World
Cup opener and a dash of good fortune when Paul Pogba ’ s effort deflected off
Australia ’ s Aziz Behich and into the net to seal a 2 - 1 win . A low - key 1- 0 victory
against Peru put them in a prime position to qualify and a 0 - 0 draw against
Denmark ensured they topped their group .
Last 16
A 4- 3 win against Lionel Messi ’ s
Argentina was one of the
standout matches of the
tournament. Goals from Angel
Di Maria and Gabriel Mercado
cancelled out an early Antoine
Griezmann penalty before
Benjamin Pavard struck a
wonderful equaliser and
teenager Kylian Mbappe scored
twice. A late Sergio Aguero goal
was not enough to save
Argentina .
Quarter- final
France had far too much quality for a Uruguay side missing in - form forward
Edinson Cavani , winning 2- 0. Defender Raphael Varane headed France ahead
towards the end of the first half and Griezmann scored thanks to a terrible error
by goalkeeper Fernando Muslera .
Semi - final
France knew they had a tough job on their hands to contain a Belgium side
boasting Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku but for the second
consecutive match they kept a clean sheet . Samuel Umtiti scored the winner in the
second half from Griezmann ’ s corner to take the team through to their third
World Cup final as 1- 0 winners .

Croatia
Group stage
Croatia were one of only three teams in Russia to win all three of their group
matches , beating Nigeria 2- 0 in their opener and Iceland 2- 1 in their final game .
But their standout performance came in their second match, when they swept
aside two - time winners Argentina 3- 0 to make a huge statement of intent.
Last 16
Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic was the hero , saving three penalties in the shootout as
Croatia squeezed past Denmark. Earlier , they had conceded a goal in the opening
minute but hit back quickly to equalise through Mario Mandzukic . Luka Modric
missed a penalty shortly before the end of extra - time but Croatia survived .
Quarter- final
Croatia looked like they would have too much quality for a solid but limited Russia
side but were again taken to extra - time and penalties . Goals from Andrej Kramaric
and Domagoj Vida cancelled out a Denis Cheryshev opener but Croatia watched in
agony as Mario Fernandes snatched a late equaliser . Ivan Rakitic struck the
decisive penalty to send his side through to the semi - finals .
Semi - final
Croatia were again forced to dig deep against England . Zlatko Dalic ’ s side looked in
deep trouble after conceding a early goal in Moscow but regrouped to equalise
midway through the second half . Despite dominating the second period they were
unable to force a winner until deep into extra - time, when Mandzukic struck to
break English hearts and win the match 2 - 1

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