Croatia, France bring star power to final
MOSCOW — Kylian Mbappe has electrified the World Cup with his speed and exuberance. Luka Modric has coolly controlled matches in Russia with his graceful play in the middle.
Whether France wins its second title in 20 years or Croatia raises the trophy for the first time Sunday at the Luzhniki Stadium in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin and nearly a billion television viewers could turn on the play of the two stars.
Mbappe, 19, has been the biggest sensation at the tournament in Russia, scoring three goals — including two against Argentina in the round of 16 — and creating havoc for opposing defenses with his pace and his agility. He is the highest-scoring teenager at a World Cup since Pele in 1958.
“It’s going to be the biggest match of my life, for sure,” the Paris Saint-Germain forward said Friday.
Although Mbappe has impressed for France at the month-long tournament, Modric has been the rock and the spark for Croatia. When the Real Madrid midfielder has the ball at feet, good things seem to happen for Croatia, as he controls the flow of play much in the same way Zinedine Zidane did for France’s 1998 champion and 2006 runner-up.
“Even when you think they’re going to lose, or going to crack, they always have the mentality to come back,” Mbappe said of the Croatian team. “It’s a team that plays with a lot of intensity.”
France’s only title came in that 1998 tournament, which it hosted. The French defeated Croatia in the semifinals that year, which until now had been Croatia’s best showing at the tournament.
The captain on that ’98 team was Didier Deschamps, now France’s coach. Victory against Croatia would be a crowning achievement for the 49-year-old who could join Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer as the only people to win the World Cup as both player and coach.
Deschamps’ skill has been to get players who are stars at Europe’s biggest clubs to bury their egos and pull as a unit behind his guiding, almost socialist, philosophy that everyone is equal on the team or, as he puts it, the “collective.” He left behind hugely talented individuals — Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema, PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot, to name two — in picking 23 players who have bonded during the seven weeks since they came together as a World Cup squad at France’s Clairefontaine training camp.
“The ability to live together, the social side, is very important,” Deschamps said in May. “You always need to strike the right balance. You don’t want too much individualism, too much quality. The collective spirit has to trump everything. You need to find a good blend of experienced players, leaders who have been through things, and the youngsters.”
Although ranging in age from the teenage Mbappe to players in their thirties such as Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, the team has visibly gelled, becoming more than the sum of its parts.
Croatia, a country of 4.5 million people which gained independence from the former Yugoslavia only 27 years ago, enters the final after playing three straight extra-time matches, including two nerveracking penalty shootouts.
In all three of those matches, Croatia recovered from being a goal down. The players never gave up.
“When you put the sacred Croatia shirt on you become a different person,” Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic said through a translator. “I’m not trying to say it’s a superior feeling than the French have for France, or Russians for Russia. The best feeling is to be Croat these days and this is the source of all our strength.”
France midfielder Blaise Matuidi summed up the feeling of both teams.
“The trophy is so close that we want to touch it,” Matuidi said. “But before touching it there is still 90 or 120 minutes, and we will have to put everything on the line. I think that this is the game of our life.”