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Didier Deschamps has added his name to the list of those to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach.

The former Marseille boss came into the Russia World Cup with his position in question, with Zinedine Zidane and Arsene Wenger becoming available at the end of the 2017-18 domestic season.

France progressed into the knockout stages of the tournament as Group C winners, however, before an emphatic 4-3 victory over Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the round of 16.

A 2-0 win over Uruguay in the quarter-finals was followed by a 1-0 against Belgium in the final four, before France sealed their second ever World Cup trophy with a 4-2 victory over Croatia in Moscow.

The result comes 20 years after Deschamps lifted the trophy as a player, having helped France to success on home turf in 1998.

Deschamps, famously dubbed the ‘water-carrier’ by Eric Cantona for his quiet efficiency in the defensive midfield position, captained his side to a 3-0 victory over finalists Brazil in Paris in the nation’s maiden World Cup win.

His triumphs as both player and manager see him join an exclusive list of people to have achieved such status, becoming only the third to have done so.

Mario Zagallo, a two-time World Cup winner as a Brazil player having lifted the trophy in both 1958 and 1962, managed the feat by then leading his country to glory as a manager in 1970.

Franz Beckenbauer is the only other name on the list, having won the World Cup with Germany as a player in 1974 and again as manager of West Germany in 1990, with Deschamps the next to join the club almost three decades later.

France’s 2018 World Cup final win also means they become only the sixth multiple winners of the tournament, joining Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Germany and Italy.

Les Bleus now tie Uruguay and Argentina with two wins, behind Germany and Italy (four each) and outright leaders Brazil, five-time winners of the title.

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Ivan Rakitic admitted that Croatia had been “lucky” to reach the World Cup final but added that they had “shown great commitment in each and every game”.

The inspirational effort was there again in Moscow on Sunday; unfortunately, the good fortune was not. Neither were the legs. They finally gave out.

Once again, Croatia showed why they have been the World Cup’s comeback kings but they were beaten 4-2 by the tournament’s set-piece specialists.

It was a defeat that had its origins in the cruellest of circumstances.

Just 18 minutes into a first half that they had utterly dominated, Mario Mandzukic, the hero of the last-four victory over England, became the first man to ever score an own goal in a World Cup final by flicking a free-kick that never should have been given past Danijel Subasic.

Then, Ivan Perisic went from heaven to hell in the space of 10 minutes, lashing home left-footed from just inside the area to deservedly draw Croatia level, before being harshly penalised for an involuntary handball after referee Nestor Pitana had consulted the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Antoine Griezmann rolled home the spot-kick to make it 2-1 to France with what was, tellingly, their only shot of any variety in an otherwise underwhelming opening 45 minutes from the favourites.

Indeed, Bleus duo Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante had been thoroughly outclassed by Luka Modric, Rakitic and Marcelo Brozovic during the first half, failing to secure any kind of foothold in the game.

Their bizarre passivity meant that teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe saw little of the ball in dangerous areas. When he did, he invariably gave it away, with the winger completing just two passes before the break.

Griezmann was just as ineffective, at least in open play, but it was his dive that earned the free-kick from which he forced Mandzukic into his unfortunate own goal.

The Atletico Madrid attacker also demonstrated impressive composure in converting a penalty awarded against Perisic, even though the Inter ace’s handball appeared to be nothing more than a consequence of him failing to anticipate the ball coming all the way through to him.

Despite the undeniable feeling that this was simply not meant to be Croatia’s day, they continued to press after the interval, with Rakitic jumping on Pogba’s loss of possession in midfield to put Ante Rebic in on goal.

However, the winger was denied by an extraordinary fingertip save from Hugo Lloris and, when Pogba and Mbappe both beat a strangely motionless Subasic to put France three goals clear, the game was up.

Mandzukic took advantage of Lloris’ carelessness to reduce Croatia’s arrears but there was to be no comeback this time. 

This was one game too far for the team that had played 120 minutes in each of their three previous knockout games. Nobody will ever forget what they have brought to this tournament, though. 

They were the World Cup’s most united team. As Rebic told Goal, “We’ve been together for 50 days and not had the smallest incident! Believe me, I know from my clubs, that usually never happens. After a week of so many guys together, things start to crack.”

But Croatia stuck together. They just kept coming, in every single game. Three times they fell behind on their run to Moscow; three times they fought back. They did it again in Moscow but could not manage it a fifth time.

Rakitic had promised beforehand that they would leave everything out on the pitch, so that they could leave with their heads held high.

They realised that goal. They have not only made their nation proud; they have won the hearts of the footballing world with their spirit, pride and passion.

“I’ve had messages of support from Argentina, Spain, Germany, all four corners of the world,” Rakitic revealed. “It’s been fantastic.

“What really makes me happy is people said they could never imagine celebrating a goal scored as if it had been scored by their own national team.

“It goes to show we’re deserved finalists.”

They would have made for worthy winners, too, but Lady Luck had other ideas.

The dream has died but Croatia’s remarkable World Cup campaign will live on in the memories of 4.5 million people – and countless others across the globe – for many years to come.

So, thank you, Croatia, there may have been no happy ending but this has been a most beautiful fairytale.

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Say what you like about France, their style of play or lack thereof, but they were the only one of the contending teams to come to Russia and hit their marks. They delivered the standout performance of the tournament, that 4-3 against Argentina in the second round, they gave the world the teenage breakout star in Kylian Mbappe and they had too much in one way or another for every opponent they faced.

There might be grumbles over the fact that a team containing so many talented players could and should be playing a lot more attractively but where are the much vaunted stars in the other favoured teams? Long gone.

Didier Deschamps has kept with his structure throughout the World Cup and indeed through his time in charge. Considering they froze in the Euro 2016 final, and looked like doing so again for much of the first half against Croatia, France delivered a stunning start to the second half that left Croatia in no doubt who was boss.

And when the step-up was needed, it was Paul Pogba and the boy wonder Mbappe who did the trick. Antoine Griezmann kept them in front in the first-half – with his freekick nicking off Mario Mandzukic for the opener and his penalty giving France a lead they scarcely deserved.

Meanwhile Pogba might not have caught all the headlines during the tournament so far but his pass for Mbappe’s run in the lead up to France’s third goal was world class.

Croatia were asserting themselves again by that stage but may have been lured into Deschamps’ trap. If a team comes onto Les Bleus they always run the risk of one well-placed pass opening the game up through the right channel for Mbappe. Pogba found the required ball and the young Paris St-Germain forward did the rest. Griezmann nudged the cross back into the path of Pogba who made no mistake on the left foot.

There may well have been question marks over Danijel Subasic’s goalkeeping on that one and he should have done better with his former Monaco team-mate Mbappe’s effort minutes later. The ball was not right in the corner but the damage was nonetheless done.

Mbappe had his World Cup final goal – the first teenager to score in this fixture since Pele in 1958 – and that tells you everything you need to know about the company this young man keeps. He experienced a difficult first half – which went by with barely a significant touch – but he persevered and took his chance when it came.

He will now be mentioned in the same breath not only as Pele but also Ronaldo Fenomeno who lit up France ’98. Hugo Lloris’s subsequent blunder was reduced to a mere footnote.

And so France have their second world title 20 years on from the first. Mbappe was not even born then and many of the rest of this squad are probably too young to have any memories of it either. What Zinedine Zidane and his team-mates achieved in front of their own fans in Saint-Denis back then was historical; a true breakthrough for France as a football nation.

Deschamps held the trophy aloft as captain that night and he holds it as manager in Moscow today. He was a disciplined, tenacious player who rarely did anything flashy but retired with his cabinet full of medals.

His team execute their game with a similar rigidity as the matches against Australia, Peru, Denmark and Uruguay would demonstrate. But when they had to go a gear above – beating a Belgium team who on the other side of the draw could well have gone close to winning the cup and dismantling Argentina and Lionel Messi – they did it.

And here, with their backs to the wall against the Croatian upstarts, they found the spark.

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Referee Nestor Pitana has been slammed for his decision to award France a first-half penalty against Croatia in Sunday’s World Cup final.

Mario Mandzukic became the first player to score an own goal in the tournament’s final, heading an Antoine Griezmann free-kick past team-mate Danijel Subasic after 18 minutes.

Ivan Perisic levelled the game 10 minutes later but was called into question for handling inside his own box before half time.

Griezmann’s corner was delivered toward Blaise Matuidi at the near post, with Perisic knocking the ball behind for what was perceived to be another corner kick.

The France team were adamant that the Croatia attacker had handled, however, protesting to the officials to review the play via VAR.

Pitana did eventually use the pitch-side screen to check the decision before awarding a France penalty.

He was widely criticised thereafter, with former players, pundits and fans claiming that he had indeed made a mistake.

Shearer took his criticism further, telling BBC : “There’s no way a ridiculous decision like that should affect the result in a World Cup final. It doesn’t deserve that. To boil down to a decision like that.

“Croatia have been brilliant. They haven’t given France any room whatsoever and they are losing this game from a free-kick that wasn’t a free-kick and from a penalty that was no way a penalty.

“It would be a crying shame if this game is decided by that. He’s taken so long, he’s certain that is deliberate handball, there’s no way that is deliberate handball. No way.”

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