Cricketing fraternity showers France with accolades after their FIFA World Cup triumph

France won the championship for the second time since 1998.

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury

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Kylian Mbappé
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Kylian Mbappé. (Photo Source: Twitter)

France are currently ranked number three in the FIFA World rankings and were touted to be among the favourites to lift the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. They were placed in Group C and they topped the table with a couple of resounding wins against Peru and Australia respectively. In the round of 16, Hugo Lloris’s men thumped last time’s champions- Argentina 4-3.

They crushed Uruguay, who won all their four matches previously, in the quarterfinal. Belgium was their next victim as they progressed to the Final of the tournament against Croatia, who were unbeaten thus far. The match turned out to be an exciting one as France beat their opponents by 4-2. France opened their account in the 18th minute courtesy of an own goal from Mario Mandzukic.

France romp past the finishing line

Ivan Perisic churned out the equalizer in the 28th minute, much to the relief of Croatia. Antoine Griezmann earned a penalty and he didn’t make a mistake as France clinched the ascendancy. In the first-half, Lloris and Co ended with 2-1 and had 45 more minutes, including injury-time, to hold their nerves. Croatia were desperate to make a comeback, but Paul Pogba dented them in the 59th minute.

With half-an-hour left for the mandatory 90 minutes, Croatia were in with a herculean task to outclass their rivals. Horrors of horror, Kylian Mbappe gave France their fourth goal. most importantly a three-goal lead. Mandzukic pulled off a goal in the 69th minutes, but France didn’t panic in the remaining minutes and eventually managed to get past the winning line without any hiccup.

After their debut in the 1930 World Cup, this was France’s second title after Didier Deschamps led the team, which had the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, to glory in 1998. Meanwhile, the cricketing fraternity lauded the winners on the impressive show. From the likes of Indian cricketers in Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag to even Australian, Pakistani players showered praises on the winners.

Here is how they reacted

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