MOSCOW: France won the World Cup for the second time by ending battlingCroatia´s dream of a first title with a 4-2 victory on Sunday in one of themost entertaining and action-packed finals for decades.
France led 2-1 at halftime after a Mario Mandzukic own goal and an AntoineGriezmann VAR penalty, with Ivan Perisic briefly bringing first-timefinalists Croatia level.
Quickfire strikes by Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe midway through the secondhalf put France on course for the title but Mandzukic was gifted a goal byFrench keeper Hugo Lloris to set up a nervous last 20 minutes.
France, however, withstood a spirited Croatia assault to lift the trophyfor the second time, following their success on home soil 20 years ago, andensure there was no repeat of two years ago when they were beaten in theEuropean Championship final by Portugal in Paris.