The French golden generation have lived up to their potential.

Managed by coach Didier Deschamps, who captained the team the last time France won in 1998, they have achieved glory for the second time in their nation's history.

The final

France drew first blood, after Croatia striker Mario Mandžukić agonisingly sent the ball into his own net from an Antoine Griezmann free kick.

But Croatia fought back with a storming goal from the edge of the box by Ivan Perišić.

More drama was to come when Griezmann scored a penalty after a controversial VAR call for handball, putting France 2-1 up in the first half.

Despite a strong performance from Croatia, their resistance was broken in the 58th minute after a left-foot rocket from Manchester United's Paul Pogba.

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And Kylian Mbappé, one of the brightest stars of the tournament at just 19, made it 4-1 not long after that.

French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a terrible mistake just when France were looking comfortable, conceding a very soft goal and allowing Mandžukić to make amends for his own mistake earlier.

Croatia continued to pile on the pressure, but it was not to be as the final finished 4-2 in France's favour.

Worthy opponents

Before the final, the talk of the tournament was Croatia and their fairytale journey to Moscow.

They endured no less than three gruelling 120 minute matches in a row during the knockout phase, defeating Denmark and Russia on penalties before denying England in the semi-final.

Not bad for a country with a population smaller than Singapore's.

But France claimed their fair share of scalps too.

After a fairly slow group stage, they beat perennial tournament favourites Argentina in a 4-3 thriller, before a clinical victory over a strong Uruguay team, and then another team with their own golden generation, Belgium.

Echoes of history

Perhaps history was on their side.

After all, France and Croatia have met in the World Cup before, most notably in 1998.

In a dramatic semi-final, striker Davor Šuker propelled Croatia to a 1-0 lead, before France rallied to beat them 2-1.

It was not to be for Croatia in Moscow, and France are the champions of the world for the second time in history.

Congratulations, France!

Top image from @8Fact_footballl's Twitter page.