FIFA: France lift second cup after beating Croatia in thrilling final

Moscow: France won the World Cup for the second time in spectacular style on Sunday by ending battling Croatia's dreams of a first major title with a 4-2 victory in one of the most entertaining and action-packed finals for decades. France triumphed thanks to an own goal from Mario Mandzukic, an Antoine Griezmann penalty — awarded after a VAR review — and second-half strikes by Paul Pogba and teenager Kylian Mbappe. Ivan Perisic and Mandzukic replied for Croatia. It was the highest-scoring decider since England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra-time in 1966 and the highest in normal time since Brazil defeated Sweden 5-2 60 years ago. There were as many goals in 90-action-packed minutes in Moscow as in the last four finals combined, and three of those went to extra time. The game featured the first final own goal and the first VAR-decided spot-kick — one that Croatia were furious about and that was arguably the turning point of the game. But the only statistic France will really care about is that the result makes them world champions for the second time following their triumph on home soil 20 years ago.