Sportsnet’s panel of writers, broadcasters and commentators offer their picks and predictions for Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final between France and Croatia.
JAMES SHARMAN
It has been such a fantastic World Cup, and it’s great that a relative underdog has a chance to lift the trophy. Not to diminish Croatia, but they were more dark horse rather than contender entering this World Cup. That being said, it has all clicked for Luka Modric and company, and they have shown that the flashes of brilliance we have seen in recent years were not just anomalies.
France, meanwhile, has the look of a dynasty in the making. Very composed and in control for most of the World Cup, they have the ability to break a game open. The question is, will Didier Deschamps loosen the shackles on his attackers against a side that has played one more match than France, when you factor in extra-time, since July 1?
Prediction: France wins 2-0
Winning goal: Antoine Griezmann
STEPHEN BRUNT
It hasn’t always been pretty, but France found a way through the significantly harder half of the draw, playing disciplined and at times creative football. Their energy never flagged, which makes sense given the youth of the squad. So now one more echo of 1998, with a rematch of the semifinal – Lilian Thuram scored the only two goals he’d ever score for France to push the home team through past Croatia twenty years ago. This time Antoine Griezmann gets the winner.
Prediction: France wins 2-0
Winning goal: Antoine Griezmann
JOHN MOLINARO
I’ve been so impressed by Croatia at this World Cup. They’ve won all of their games, earning results in a variety of ways, and are getting contributions from each of their “Big Five:” Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Ante Rebic, Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic. They’ve trailed in all three of their previous knockout games. All three times they came back to win. They’ve shown great resiliency and character, not to mention a tireless work rate, that I just can’t see them coming up short on Sunday – not even against a France side that has more depth and quality.
Prediction: Croatia wins 1-0
Winning goal: Mario Mandzukic
JEFF BLAIR
I called France to win this thing when we made our predictions before it started. It will go down as the only thing I predicted correctly.
Prediction: France wins 2-1
Winning goal: Paul Pogba. Set piece, naturally …
DONNOVAN BENNETT
France was my pick to win the tournament from the very start and there is no changing my mind now. They’ve found a formation that works with Olivier Giroud as a target man, Antoine Griezman pulling the strings in behind and Paul Pogba figuring out a way to balance being diligent defensively and positive offensively. France is too big, has too much pace and is too defensively organized. No back line has had a better tournament than France’s. And no player had been better in the tournament than N’Golo Kante. Can a defensive midfielder win the Golden Ball? If there was ever a strong enough case, it would be for Kante who covers the ground of two players and never loses energy.
Croatia is much older and have played much more football to get this far. Tired legs aren’t a good combination when you have to keep up with legs of Kylian Mbappe and the stamina to challenge Kante. The only question is, will Didier Deschamps give his team the license to get forward and make the game an open contest. No matter if they set up pragmatically or progressively, France will win.
Prediction: France wins 3-0
Winning goal: Paul Pogba
THOMAS DOBBY
So, it’s not coming home after all. I guess they still have to play the final. Croatia was supposed to be tired in the semifinals, but got stronger as the match went on. The resiliency in that team is incredible, but they’ll be wise to not get behind (again) against France. The French have grown stronger as the tournament has gone on, including back-to-back clean sheets, and are clear favourites. Can they deliver in the final this time around? I’m expecting a cagey first half, but hopefully we get a better display than the Euro 2016 final between France and Portugal.
Prediction: France win 1-0
Winning goal: Kylian Mbappe
PETER GALINDO
Both France and Croatia have opted for more compact and conservative approaches, all while maintaining control when necessary. This should lead to a low-scoring final.
As balanced as these sides are, France should have the slight edge. They’ve scored more goals on set pieces (4-2) and have conceded just twice in open play, while Croatia has scored eight of their 12 goals in open play. The French have a deep-lying back four, and the tireless N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi in front of them, which might lead to less space for the Croatians to operate compared to the England match. Croatia’s full-backs tend to be more involved in the attack, so that could be a route of attack for Les Bleus on the counter.
Prediction: France wins 1-0
Winning goal: Raphael Varane
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