The two sides met in the semi-finals at the 1998 World Cup 20 years ago, when France was hosts. Sunday’s final match between Croatia and France will definitely bring memories for FIFA World Cup aficionados. There are parallels in many ways between that match and Sunday’s final. By far Croatia’s greatest and biggest success as an independent nation is making it in the semi-finals. They had almost unthinkably made it this far, while fancied France was riding a wave of Les Bleus frenzy. Making it in the semi-final was a great success for France too, but it was not inconceivable that they had made it that far. No words about Croatia’s performance, they had over-performed, even our expectations.
With a result of 3-0 Croatia had beaten Germany in the quarter-finals, but one of their best overall performances of the tournament was their 3-0 win over Argentina in the group stage. France was solid in the back – they had conceded one goal before kick-off against Croatia in 1998 – much like this 2018 side. But back then they have been blessed with talent in midfield and up front with names like Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane littering their starting lists.
Current France coach Didier Deschamps was captain of the English side in 1998 and led his team out on the pitch at the Stade de France against Croatia that evening in Saint-Denis. So as you can see there are some direct connections from that day too.
Let us take you back in 1998. In the second half, the match between these sides sprang into life right away as Croatia’s goal scorer, Davor Suker broke through French lines to give Vatreni the lead. For a minute Lilian Thuram changed this advantage by stealing the possession on top of Croatia’s penalty area before lashing home his first goal in a France shirt. He hasn’t finished there. In the 70th minute, he scored the winning goal, making it 2-1 with a curling shot that any striker would be proud of. That situation reminded us of France defender Samuel Umtiti, who scored their decisive goal in the semi-finals at Russia 2018.
What will tell the latest chapter of Croatia vs. France in the World Cup history books this time?