10 Things We Learned From World Cup 2018
2. Credit To Croatia
England did well, but Croatia went one better. They opened their World Cup with a great win over Nigeria and followed that up with what would prove to be their best performance of the tournament when they beat Argentina 3-0. Another win against Iceland helped Croatia finish the group as one of only three teams to earn nine points.
From there, due to the strange way the draw fell this year, Croatia's path to the final wasn't as tricky as France's, and the team needed two sets of penalties to overcome Denmark and Russia and an extra time winner to beat England, but they pulled it off.
Time and again, this Croatia side had their backs against the wall but came out strong. Special mention of course has to go to Luka Modrić, who won the Golden Ball, but Damagoj Vida, Danijel Subašić, Sime Vrsaljko, Ivan Rakitić, and Ivan Perišić all had brilliant World Cups as well.
Despite the 4-2 scoreline, Croatia actually looked the more likely side to win the final for large periods, keeping the ball well and creating more chances than their opposition. It wasn't quite to be, but they gave a great account of themselves. Now, with many players approaching or over the age of 30, it'll be interesting to see how Croatia can rebuild and keep competing at future tournaments.