France vs Croatia: 5 of the Best all European FIFA World Cup Finals

The greatest spectacle on earth is coming close to its extravagant ending. The FIFA World Cup 2018 has been a fantastic Flag Bearer of the beautiful game and has showcased some fabulous games of football and many exceptional talents on the field. There have been 163 goals in the 63 games played so far, with an average of 2.6 goals per game. There has been a total of 48993 passes, averaging 777.7 per match. There has been 216 Yellow Cards and only 4 Red Cards. The tournament has boiled down to its main event, the FIFA World Cup Finals and the honour to be “crème de la crème”. France and Croatia have earned the right to face each other in a befitting end to the tournament, setting up an all European Final for the 9th time in the history of the World Cup, riding victories in battle after battle, and getting ready to win the war.

The two have met 5 times in total and Les Blues reign supreme, winning 2 games, while the rest ended in draws. Their last meeting was in the 1998 World Cup Semi Final, where a spirited France team came from a goal down to win the game 2-1, eventually going on to win the World Cup. Both France and Croatia have been fabulous so far in this World Cup and have set up an exciting World Cup Final to look forward to.

Croatia started the tournament with a 2-0 win over Nigeria. They followed it up by brushing aside Argentina 3-0 and getting the better of Iceland 2-1. They topped their group and went on to the round of 16, where they had to fight it out with Denmark, eventually winning the game 3-2 on penalty shootouts, as the game ended 1-1 after extra time. In the Quarter Finals, they played arguably one of the games of the tournament against Russia. When the score stayed 2-2 after 120 minutes of football, the game went to penalties, where Croatia won 4-3. In the semi-final against England too, the game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and a Mario Mandzukic penalty won the game in extra time. Croatia played 6 games, winning all of them, scoring 12 goals, the second highest after Belgium.

France won the first game of the group stages 2-1 against Australia and continued their winning streak with a narrow 1-0 win over Peru. In the last game of the group stages, they were held to a goalless draw against Denmark. In the round of 16, France defeated Argentina 4-3 in a hugely entertaining game. They won their Quarter Final against Uruguay 2-0. The semi-final game saw them overcome a resilient Belgium side by a 1-0 margin. France played 6 games, winning 5, scoring 10 goals.

None of France’s games went into extra time, whereas Croatia have played 3 back to back games of 120 minutes leading up to the final; whether this works as an advantage to either team is yet to be seen. In the last two times that the final of a FIFA World Cup featured a first-time finalist, both resulted in maiden wins (1998 and 2010).

Before Croatia and France take to the fields, there have been 8 all European finals before and we take a look at 5 of the best of them, including one that is considered the greatest FIFA World Cup Final of all times.

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#5 The Netherlands vs West Germany - 1974 World Cup Final, Germany

Germany and Netherlands faced each other in the 1974 World Cup Final on 7th July 1974 at the Olympiastadion, Munich. In a game attended by 75200 spectators, Netherlands took the lead as early as the 2nd minute in front of the home crowd, when Neeskens converted a penalty. But West Germany levelled the game with Breitner’s 25th-minute penalty. The legendary Muller scored 2 minutes before half time to give West Germany the lead, which they held on to, winning the World Cup.

#4 Italy vs Czechoslovakia – 1934 World Cup Final, Italy

On 10th July 1934, Italy and Czechoslovakia walked on to the pitch at the now-closed Stadio Nazionale PNF stadium in Rome, to face each other in the final of the second World Cup. In the semi-finals, Italy had defeated Austria 1-0 and Czechoslovakia had won 3-1 against Germany, thanks to a Nejedly hattrick. Watched closely by 55000 people from the stands, most of them home fans cheering the host nation, Czechoslovakia stunned the stadium to take the lead in the 19th minute through Anton Puc. But Italy came back into the game through Orsi’s goal in the 29th minute. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and hence moved on to extra time. 5 minutes into extra time, Schiavio scored the winning goal, as the hosts went on to lift the 1934 World Cup.

#3 Italy vs France – 2006 World Cup, Germany

France fans look away, but the last time Les Blues played a European Nation in the World Cup final did not end well for them. France defeated Portugal 1-0 in the semi-finals to set up a date with Italy, who defeated host nation Germany 2-0 after extra time in the semi-finals.

The final was played on 9th July 2006 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, in front of 69000 people. France went ahead with a penalty from Zinedine Zidane in the 7th minute, but Materazzi equalized for Italy in the 19th minute. The game moved to extra time, where both goal scorers would meet infamously in an incident that probably affected the outcome of the game. Zidane was red-carded in extra time for head-butting Materazzi. In the penalties that followed, Italy converted all their spot kicks, whereas Trezeguet missed for France, as Italy won the game 5-3 and became 2006 World Champions.

#2 England vs West Germany, 1966 World Cup, England

England faced West Germany in the final of the 1966 World Cup at the Wembley Stadium on 30th July 1966, in a game attended by 96924 people. West Germany took the lead on the 12th minute through Haller, but Hurst equalized for England on the 18th minute. The first half ended with the score 1-1. England took the lead in the 78th minute through Peters and the home crowd went ballistic.

However, Weber scored for West Germany with 1 minute left on the clock to silence the whole stadium and send the game into extra time. Hurst gave England the lead in the 101st minute and then completed his hat-trick in the last minute of extra time. England won the game 4-2 and lifted their only World Cup in 1966.

#1 Hungary vs West Germany, 1954 World Cup, Switzerland

Little did the 62500 people who gathered at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern on a normal day in July 1954 know that they were about to witness one of the greatest games of football and probably the greatest World Cup final ever played. In the semi-finals of the 1954 World Cup, West Germany defeated Austria 6-1 and Hungary defeated Uruguay 4-2. Yet on 4th July 1954, West Germany walked out to face Hungary in the Finals of the 1954 FIFA World Cup as underdogs. This was because the legendary Hungary Team were unbeaten in 31 games in the 5 years leading to the final. They were Hungary’s Golden Generation and they were tipped to bring the World Cup home.

True to their accolades, Hungary started the game strong, with the legendary Puskas giving his country the lead in the 6th minute. Czibor doubled the score 2 minutes later and it looked like Hungary would run away with the cup. But for the Germans, this was not just a football game but an opportunity to gain their lost international recognition and they responded within 2 minutes, with Morlock scoring for them. Rahn levelled the score for West Germany in the 18th minute. The first half ended with the game evenly poised at 2-2.

In the second half, both sides attempted to score, but could not convert their chances. The Germans had already made their point, the favourites Hungary were in the back foot. The game looked destined for extra time, when in the 84th minute Rahn scored his second of the game for West Germany, giving his team the lead for the first time in the game. The Germans had come back from two goals down to a one-goal advantage. They had moved a mountain it seemed and had made the impossible possible. They could smell the trophy now and they held on with all their might. The game ended West Germany 3-2 Hungary and is now famously referred to as “Wunder von Bern” or the “Miracle of Bern”.