[BaggieSteve]

Is the referee under strict instructions to give the trophy to France? That penalty decision was dismal. I wonder how much the bung was

[WBA-Josh]

1 shot, 2 goals, the shot was a penalty, the first goal came from a free-kick that shouldn’t have been given and the goal was an own goal.

The Gods seem to be on France’s side.

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I think Lovren just decked one of the pitch invaders.

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What the hell was Subasic doing for these two goals. Too flat footed.

[BaggieSteve]

Well two great goals to compensate for the previous two that the referee "scored". Those last two deserve to win a World Cup. I think we're seeing a team, in France, who have players light years ahead of England's

[St Charles Owl]

Well two great goals to compensate for the previous two that the referee "scored". Those last two deserve to win a World Cup. I think we're seeing a team, in France, who have players light years ahead of England's

Disagree with that, they are better than England at this moment for sure, but I don’t think England are light years behind them!! We are a couple of years behind their youth coming through, but if our youngsters keep developing then we will add more quality to our team and we won’t be far off them.

[WBA-Josh]

France are the Champions. I don’t think they’ve been the best team in the tournament but they know how to win. The style of play is average and too negative but it really works for them. Their squad is still young so there’s plenty of time left for them to become better and play better football in the future.

As for Croatia, they’ve overachieved just to reach the final. For a country of only 4 million, they’ve done superbly well to get here. I hope we get to see Modric and Rakitic at the next World Cup but I fear Modric will have retired from International football by then.

A special mention goes to the officials for their incompetence.

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Thank you Russia for an entertaining World Cup. I had my scepticism leading up to it but Russia has shown that it can host good events on the World stage.

Bravo.

[drewks]

Feel for Croatia. IMHO they played the game the way it should be played; they went forward at every opportunity, won it back very quickly more often than not, and simply played on the front foot trying to score goals.
Very good French counter attacking - no one could deny that - but I still think the best team lost.
Stats must be interesting.

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Yup - tells the story; BBC stats with France shown as the home side:

Possession
Home34%Away66%

Shots
Home7Away14

Shots on Target
Home6Away4

Corners
Home2Away6

Fouls
Home13Away13

[BaggieSteve]

Well two great goals to compensate for the previous two that the referee "scored". Those last two deserve to win a World Cup. I think we're seeing a team, in France, who have players light years ahead of England's

Disagree with that, they are better than England at this moment for sure, but I don’t think England are light years behind them!!  We are a couple of years behind their youth coming through, but if our youngsters keep developing then we will add more quality to our team and we won’t be far off them.

I would agree with you if I thought that the current system was developing the sort of players we saw today. I think the young players in the current senior first XI don't have what it takes, regardless of whatever development they receive. I'm sorry but, for example, I think, Rashford is a highly limited footballer and I'm struggling to see what will change in him to move him up at least one level. Likewise Lingard, Sterling etc. It may be that we have outstanding talents coming through the younger teams that have done well in their respective age conditions but, unless we are developing and coaching the skills we've seen in this World Cup from France, Belgium, Croatia etc, I'm not sure what's going to change

[hibeejim21]

I honestly think that, with this squad of players, England have done the best they could. The only two teams we comprehensively beat were an abject Panama and a dour, uninspiring Sweden. When we came up against teams that had that spark of flair and creativity, most notably Belgium and Croatia, we were greatly lacking. We have no players that are even close to De Bruyne, Hazard, Modric and Racitic. I appreciate these are exceptional footballers but Colombia and, at times, Tunisia exceeded us in their technical skill. We have midfielders who, in the words of our much lamented previous coach, work aard and will play within a structure but don't have that spark that will change a game out of nothing. Let's be honest, in watching our games in this tournament, most is got our hopes up when we got a corner or free kick as the likeliest source of a goal.

This is not a criticism of Southgate, I think he did a very good job with what he had; it's just that what he had wasn't good enough. By and large, PL midfields tend to be stocked by creative foreign players supported by hard working English/British yeomen. Can't help thinking that, as long as that continues, England will be destined to be continued plucky losers

Correct.

The simple fact is though, that in the Premier League, the best player in every position comes from outwith England. Thats something to bear in mind.

I dont rate southgate,i don't believe he is the kind of coach that can go toe to toe and beat the top european sides coaches. Nor do i think england have the kind of talent and technically strong players that the top nations have.

The media and pundits have gone totally overboard (no surprise there!) Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland et al will never be that pish again or fail to qualify. They have tremendous young talent coming through,technically superior to what england have.

I think england did ok,nothing more with the draw they had. Maguire has had a good tournament and you worked your set plays effectively enough. But you didn't beat anyone of note, if it had been france v england today it would have been a similar score.... imagine young up against mbappe ffs

[Slick_Footwork]

The nature of France's win didn't sit well with me.

First goal was an obvious dive for the free kick and then Pogba is clearly offside. We can argue he wasn't a huge influence, but he was the man closest to Mandzukic when he heads the ball into his own net. That presence is obviously going to put Mandzukic off. No VAR for this one?

Then, the "handball". We can't see anything in real time and neither can the referee. Watching the replay, yes, it hits his hand and yes his hand is moving but it's by his side and was moving even before the diversion of Matuidi. In my head, this is 99% unintentional and 99% not changing anything anyway, because the ball is going straight onto the defender's head. It's travelled half a yard from Matuidi until it hits his hand. For me, this was an absolute travesty.

Going in at 2-1 down made it almost impossible for Croatia because they had to come out and take big chances which played perfectly into France's hands with their pace going forward. Fair play to France, they played it perfect on the break second half, albeit with some bad goalkeeping for Pogba's goal IMHO.

That said, this position wouldn't have been if it wasn't for the terrible decisions.

Open to debate, of course, but IMO VAR failed again. It's supposed to be used for offsides and clear and obvious decisions. Yet the offside wasn't even looked at, while handball is far from clear and obvious.

On the day, the best team lost.

[hibeejim21]

Well two great goals to compensate for the previous two that the referee "scored". Those last two deserve to win a World Cup. I think we're seeing a team, in France, who have players light years ahead of England's

Disagree with that, they are better than England at this moment for sure, but I don’t think England are light years behind them!!  We are a couple of years behind their youth coming through, but if our youngsters keep developing then we will add more quality to our team and we won’t be far off them.

France are going to rule a generation of football much as the Spanish did.