Technology to the fore as France edge Australia

Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli, revealing his starting line-up a day early, is going for safety-first experience in pairing Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia in midfield to contain Iceland in Saturday's World Cup Group D opener.

After a year of experimention since taking over that has left the former champions embarrassed in the run-in, Sampaoli also announced on Friday that he had chosen Sergio Aguero over Gonzalo Higuain to play in front of talisman Lionel Messi.

Angel Di Maria and Maximiliano Meza will play on either side of the Barcelona wizard, with the veteran Mascherano, now plying his trade in China, and Biglia, who has had a poor season at Juventus, apparently holding in front of a four-man defence.

Asked if he was abandoning a determination to innovate as the way to reignite the 2014 runners-up, who were even humiliated 6-1 by Spain in a troubled build-up, Sampaoli said he was adapting to the team he has but also had longer-term plans.

"Mascherano and Biglia are very skilled and really unite the team with their passes," he said, playing down the 34-year-old Mascherano's lack of top flight football since leaving Barcelona for Hebei Fortune in January.

"I think this is the right team to start the World Cup -- but we might make changes later," he added, after giving a nod to Willy Caballero to replace injured goalkeeper Sergio Romero and pairing Nicolas Otamendi and Marcos Rojo as centre backs.

Despite their problems in qualifying, Argentina start as group favourites, though Croatia and Nigeria may pose greater threats.

Sampaoli, however, insisted he was not underestimating Iceland, the tiny nation playing at its first World Cup.

As they showed in reaching the quarter finals of Euro 2016, Iceland, he noted, were capable both of using their significant height advantage and of punishing more fancied opponents on the break.

"We've worked to see if we can limit their advantage" in the air, he said. "I'm sure it's going to be very, very tough because they are very tight and they can counter-attack. But we have been preparing for a long time."

Argentina line-up to face Iceland: Willy Caballero, Eduardo Salvio, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Rojo, Nicolas Tagliafico, Lucas Biglia, Javier Mascherano, Maximiliano Meza, Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero. 

You can’t ask for a better start to a World Cup as far as the first couple of days of Russia 2018 is concerned. The hosts got off to a dream start with a 5-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium on the opening day. The resounding victory of Stanislav Cherchesov’s boys injected that much-needed spark among the home fans, although not many Russian youths have yet decided to grow moustache like their coach. 

The next three games on the following day in three different cities in Russia were absolute crackers with Uruguay and Iran hitting last minute winners against Egypt and Morocco respectively. The third game of the day between Portugal and Spain was a six-goal thriller where Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hattrick to deny Spain a victory. 

Ronaldo’s free-kick with barely six minutes from the regulation time that enforced a 3-3 draw is so far the best goal from set pieces in the tournament. The magnificent Real Madrid striker made no mistake to pounce on a costly foul committed by Gerard Pique on the edge of the box against Ronaldo. Standing like a bull-fighter and taking a few heavy breaths, Ronaldo took a few steps before curling in a sublime floater from outside the Spanish wall and into the top-right corner that a hapless David de Gea, who had let Ronaldo’s second goal spill thought his legs, could only watch.  

Thirteen goals in four games is more than one could expect in modern-day football when space is limited with 11 players trying to prevent the other half to play. Many had considered even the opening game between Russia and Saudi Arabia not an ideal starter for the biggest show on earth. But the Russians with their high-pressing football and aerial dominance over a short-passing Saudis not only impressed the world audience, but also put behind the seven-game winless streak in a most spectacular fashion. The defeat is also a rude reminder for the oil-rich Saudi football bosses that too-much changing and chopping of coach never augers well for a team. 

Iran-Morocco game was entertaining with both teams creating chances before that 95th-minute header from Aziz Bouhaddouz into his own net cruelly ended the fate of the game. Uruguay, the two-time World Champions, were the better team against a Mohamed Salah-less Egypt. But all their efforts were bellowed like an accordion by a resolute Egypt defence with their goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy standing under the bar like a pyramid. He kept Luis Suarez and Co. at bay with some stunning saves until Uruguay defender Jose Gimenez hit the winner with a towering header in the 89th minute. 

El-Shenawy won the player of the match award. But he was forced to reject the traditional post-match reward -- as his religion forbids the consumption of alcohol. Budweiser are the official Fifa World Cup 2018 sponsors of the Man-of-the-match award -- presenting the game's best player with an artistic red goblet.   

The Portugal-Spain match lived up to its billing as one of the heavyweight first-round fixtures. Ronaldo also lived up to this reputation as one of the three superstars of this World Cup with a magnificent treble. It is now up to Argentina’s Leonel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar to unfold their magic. Messi will walk at the Spartak Stadium against Iceland to launch Argentina’s bid to win a World Cup. It also starts the World Cup for many Bangladesh fans loyal to Argentina. Messi scoring a hattrick or not, or Neymar following suits the next day against Switzerland, this World Cup has already promised plenty of goals and endless entertainment.     

Croatia captain Luka Modric beat competition from the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Eden Hazard to win the golden ball as the best player in the World Cup even as his side lost the final of the showpiece event 4-2 against France.

Modric scored two goals in the group stage and converted both of his attempts in penalty shootouts to help Croatia reach the final. Belgium talisman and captain Hazard, who had been in blazing form throughout this campaign, scoring three goals, was awarded the silver ball while French forward Antoine Griezmann was handed the bronze ball.

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was given the golden glove award for his three clean-sheets, conceeding six goals in seven matches with some excellent saves against Brazil being his showcase performance.

Rain poured down in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow as Modic embraced Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic after being given the award by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Russia President Vladimir Putin.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said: “He played a terrific tournament which is another commendation for the team which helped to bring about Luka's success. He did the lion share of our play and he was a deserved winner of the Golden Ball.”

Croatia had shown great fight in the first half before a Griezmann penalty handed France the lead again in the second half before they added two more goals.

France's 19-year-old star Kylian Mbappe was named the tournament's Best Young Player after scoring Les Bleus' fourth goal on Sunday, becoming the youngest since Pele in 1958 to find the net in the final.

England captain Harry Kane was confirmed as the Golden Boot winner, his six goals outpacing the four of Griezmann while Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku was named the Bronze boot winner.

While Mbappe, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Russia’s Denis Cheryshev also scored four goals in the competition, but Griezmann bagged two assists while Lukaku had one, which decided their higher ranking in the top-scorers’ list.

It was the first time that Video Referee Assistant (VAR) technology was used in a World Cup final but controversial refereeing decsions ensured that a spectacle of the calibre of the final might have been marred by inconsistencies.

Argentine referee Nestor Pitana, who was also took charge of the first match played between Russia and Saudi Arabia was handed the duty to bring the curtain down on the showpiece event.

Both France’s opener and their second goal which handed them the lead in the second half were controversial in their own rights.

The first goal would follow after Antoine Griezmann was fouled outside the area. Griezmann looked to shimmy his way past Marcelo Brozovic, perhaps going down easily under the midfielder's attentions to set up a set piece in a very dangerous area. Replays looked unconvincing as Griezmann looked like he either accidentally tripped himself or went down against minimum contact.

VAR did not intervene due to the guidelines which suggests that it should only intervene in case of goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity. It was not a penalty or a red card incident so VAR did not intervene.

Controversy followed the actual scoring of the goal as well after Mario Mandzukic had scored the first ever own goal in a World Cup final. French midfielder Paul Pogba appeared to be in an offside position when Mandzukic headed into his own net.

The Croatia forward had jumped higher than Pogba and interfered with the play. Notably former Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas had his say on the matter over twitter.

“Honestly, I do not understand the use of VAR very well,” Casillas wrote.

“The referee points to a foul that wasn’t on Griezmann and France’s goal comes from that action and nothing happens.”

Uruguay and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez agreed with the former Real Madrid goalkeeper and wrote: You are right Iker and Paul Pogba was offside when he ‘participates’ in the play.

While the controversies in the first goal may get overlooked, it was France’s second goal ten minutes before half-time which might have changed the tide of the match after Croatia had fought back with a equalizer from Ivan Perisic.

Blaise Matuidi went up for a near-post header, but missed the nod-on. Instead, the ball landed near the defending Perisic's arm, prompting wild gesticulations from French players, pleading for a handball. The ball went out of bounds and was originally ruled a goal kick for Croatia, but the officials decided to use the VAR to check the play.

The referee put his finger to his ear, and after what felt like an eternity, signalled that he would consult the VAR. Whether it was deliberate, or whether Perisic's hand was in an unnatural position was not clear, even after repeated viewing of the incident.

Even when he appeared to come to a decision, the referee quickly spun on the spot and returned to the screen for one quick look before awarding a penalty to France from which Griezmann scored.

It looked highly unlikely that it was a case of deliberate handball and might have even been a case of ball to hand.

Alan Shearer led the criticism of the refree while talking at the BBC studio, claiming Pitana’s decision-making had been “ridiculous” and that both pivotal decisions were, in his opinion, wrong.

“They’re losing this game to a free-kick that wasn’t a free-kick, and penalty that definitely wasn’t penalty,” Shearer said.

Jurgen Klinsmann agreed, while Rio Ferdinand added: “Two bad decisions have really turned this game on its head.”

It was the biggest game in the biggest showpiece event in the world. A game which should have been lit up by the footballing excellence of the participating teams. In a way, that probably was the case. France had the most talented squad in the tournament and they managed to showcase their abilities. However, football is a crazy game where moments can decide the outcome of a match and before the second France goal, Croatia were looking like the better side. Whatever the result, maybe controversies should not lead discussions in the aftermath of such an important game, which is what happened after the final.

A month ago, if someone had predicted that France and Croatia would play the World Cup final in Russia, most of us would have dumped it as an impossible option. But here we are with that spectacularly different reality -- the Les Bleus and the Blazers lining up for today's final at the Luzhniki Stadium.

France are no rank outsiders -- they are a proven force and won the World Cup in 1998. But Croatia have certainly lived up their nickname -- blazing their way to their first-ever World Cup final. And if Croatia win, they will be the ninth nation to lift the coveted trophy.

Do they deserve it? Let's have the facts -- they played three knockout games on the trot for 120 minutes and more importantly they did it the hard way. Croatia won their semifinal against England in style – coming from a goal down to win it 2-1 in extra time, with Mario Mandzukic slamming the winner on 109 minutes. Not only that, they won their three group stage games which included a thumping 3-0 win against two-time world champions Argentina.

This Croatia team have so far not only demonstrated that they have got the qualities, if not pedigree, to go all the way to win the title. They will be up against a team they lost thrice against two draws in the last five meetings, but Croatia's inspirational coach Zlatko Dalic said past statistics would not win his opponents today's final.

“Statics, tradition and head to head -- I don't buy those. Tradition is there to be demolished. We do not mind who is on the other side of the pitch. We have come here to enjoy the moment and give our best. We deserved to play in the final; we want the world to watch Croatia play; we want most of the world to root for us. This is important. We will give our all, we will enjoy our football and whoever is the better team may they win,” Dalic said ahead of the final.

After that semifinal heart-break against France in their maiden World Cup appearance in 1998, Croatia lurched from bad to worse in the following three editions of the World Cup. They made it to Russia at the last moment but since then it has been a spectacular journey for them with Luca Modric playing the key role in a very experienced side.

They might have played more minutes and got less rest compared to France and they have so far proved that they love to grind their way out of a hole. This tough mentality might prove handy for them against an extremely talented yet raw French side, who had only one tough game against Belgium in the semifinal. France were successful in defending a 54th-minute Umtiti lead against Belgium. But the ploy of sitting back against a vastly experienced Croatia side might prove costly for them.

France will bank on the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe to create something on the break. But the key player for the Les Bleus would once again be again Antoine Grizemann and it will be interesting to see who controls the midfield.

France captain Hugo Lloris is well aware that this Croatia team is not only very experienced but have the quality too. He also reminded that they would have to be at their best if they want France to lift the World Cup for a second time and put behind the home disappointment of the Euro 2016 final against Portugal.

Twenty years ago, France joined the exclusive group of World Cup winners, defeating Brazil in the final. Croatia made their first appearance in that year and bowed out, suffering an agonising 2-1 semifinal defeat against France. They will get a second chance at redemption. And if they can do that, it will be gift to the dreamers. Croatia is a county of only four million people, but Dalic promised that the seismic wave back in Croatia would be even bigger than Brazil and Argentina if they win the final.