World Cup's 101 Most Memorable Moments: The fantastic France-Croatia Final

By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer

Editor's note: Each day between now and the kickoff of the first match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Nov. 20, we'll unveil a different memory from World Cup history. The countdown from 101 continues with the 2018 World Cup Final.

Here's a dirty little World Cup secret: the championship match at any given event, because of the sheer magnitude of the stakes involved, is usually a snooze-fest. With so much on the line, teams are incentivized to play a cagey, conservative game, fouling often and rarely taking chances in the attack lest they make a mistake that costs them the title.

Those defensive tactics had only intensified heading into the last World Cup; the two previous finals were both decided by a single strike in extra time after a scoreless 90 minutes.

Thankfully, Croatia and France came to play in 2018. The Croatians were all over Les Bleus early, but France took the lead against the run of play on an 18th-minute own goal. One minute later the score was even again, courtesy of Ivan Perišić. The video assistant referee then awarded a penalty to France after spotting a handball in the box. Antonine Griezmann converted it to restore his team's advantage.

Three more goals were scored in the second half, after which France stood as 4-2 winners. It was the highest-scoring World Cup final since 1966.

One of the leading soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.