France lifts FIFA world cup, beats Croatia by 4-2

Moscow: France defeated Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.

The French, playing their third World Cup final, were made to sweat initially and were lucky to go ahead when Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic headed an Antoine Griezmann free kick into his own net in the 18th minute, the first own goal in a World Cup final.

Deschamps, who captained France when they lifted the World Cup in 1998, became only the third man to win the trophy both as a player and a manager after Germany's Franz Beckenbauer and Brazil's Mario Zagallo.

Ivan Perisic levelled with a powerful shot 10 minutes later but the Croatia midfielder was then penalised for handball following a VAR review and Griezmann stepped up coolly to convert the 38th-minute penalty and put France 2-1 up.

Mandzukic pounced on a mistake by France keeper Hugo Lloris to cut the deficit in the 69th minute, making it the highest-scoring final over 90 minutes in 60 years, but Croatia could not find the net again in their first World Cup final. (UNI)