Cricketing fraternity showers France with accolades after their FIFA World Cup triumph

France are currently ranked number three in the FIFA World rankings and were touted to be among the favourites to lift the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. They were placed in Group C and they topped the table with a couple of resounding wins against Peru and Australia respectively. In the round of 16, Hugo Lloris’s men thumped last time’s champions- Argentina 4-3.

They crushed Uruguay, who won all their four matches previously, in the quarterfinal. Belgium was their next victim as they progressed to the Final of the tournament against Croatia, who were unbeaten thus far. The match turned out to be an exciting one as France beat their opponents by 4-2. France opened their account in the 18th minute courtesy of an own goal from Mario Mandzukic.

France romp past the finishing line

Ivan Perisic churned out the equalizer in the 28th minute, much to the relief of Croatia. Antoine Griezmann earned a penalty and he didn’t make a mistake as France clinched the ascendancy. In the first-half, Lloris and Co ended with 2-1 and had 45 more minutes, including injury-time, to hold their nerves. Croatia were desperate to make a comeback, but Paul Pogba dented them in the 59th minute.

With half-an-hour left for the mandatory 90 minutes, Croatia were in with a herculean task to outclass their rivals. Horrors of horror, Kylian Mbappe gave France their fourth goal. most importantly a three-goal lead. Mandzukic pulled off a goal in the 69th minutes, but France didn’t panic in the remaining minutes and eventually managed to get past the winning line without any hiccup.

After their debut in the 1930 World Cup, this was France’s second title after Didier Deschamps led the team, which had the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, to glory in 1998. Meanwhile, the cricketing fraternity lauded the winners on the impressive show. From the likes of Indian cricketers in Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag to even Australian, Pakistani players showered praises on the winners.

Here is how they reacted

FRANCE 🇫🇷 CHAMPION 2018 WORLD CUP ⚽️ @FIFAWorldCup GREAT TOURNAMENT👏👏

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 15, 2018

An eventful World Cup finals to say the least! This one will definitely go down in the history books. Congratulations @equipedefrance! #FifaWorldCup2018

— cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) July 15, 2018

#FRANCE 🏆CHAMPIONS football World Cup 2018

— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) July 15, 2018

Congratulations to France on the well deserved victory in the #WorldCupFinal⁠ ⁠. Croatia should be very proud of their performance & showed great character. Overall it was a wonderfully organised tournament & congratulations to Russia for organising it so well #FrancevsCroatia pic.twitter.com/kKIq90WCTS

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) July 15, 2018

Congratulations France 🇫🇷 on winning the World Cup and well done to Croatia 🇭🇷 for doing so well and fighting till the end .. really enjoyed watching this tournament….

— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) July 15, 2018

Congrats France 🇫🇷
Congrats @paulpogba

— Carlos Brathwaite (@TridentSportsX) July 15, 2018

Well done France 🇫🇷, Croatia hold your heads up high. What a World Cup it was.

— David Warner (@davidwarner31) July 15, 2018

Congratulations #FRA for winning their second #WorldCup title. They were by far the best team in the tournament and thoroughly deserve to lift the trophy. Well played, #CRO who were fantastic and displayed lot of heart. pic.twitter.com/YEP63ujxri

— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) July 15, 2018

This was surely a World Cup final, which the World will never forget.🏆
Brilliant effort showed by both the teams throughout the tournament.

Well played #CRO
Congratulations #Fra on the win.#FraCro #WorldCupFinals @FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/3Kvmwk3Xp4

— Jasprit bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) July 15, 2018

Croatia deserves a lot of credit for making the final against all odds & played great football, showed amazing spirit and won many hearts. But many congratulations to France on being the worthy winners. Was a great World Cup, beautifully hosted by Russia #WorldCupFinal⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠ pic.twitter.com/AdusTXxa0Q

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 15, 2018

Congratulations to France on winning the finals, by far the best team in the @FIFAWorldCup 2018 ! Bit harsh on Croatia on the penalty though #WorldCupFinal

— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) July 15, 2018

Congratulations to France on becoming World Champions. Well deserved. Sports teaches so much to us and Croatia taught us perseverance and played with such heart and determination and should be very proud of themselves . #WorldCupFinal⁠ ⁠

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 15, 2018

While #France conquered the @FIFAWorldCup my team #Croatia conquered fear of an underdog. Congratulations to both. #FootballWorldCup

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) July 15, 2018

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