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| Pic credit: @FIFAWorldCup on Twitter |
There were long-standing fears that the 2018 World Cup in Russia would go down in history as one of the most unsavoury ever staged. Talk of hooliganism and corruption, along with a host team in alarming decline, dominated the build-up to the 21st FIFA World Cup. By the time it ended, the main thought doing the rounds was of a tournament that brought thrilling games, spellbinding goals, near-daily surprises and, mercifully, minimal off-field trouble.
The drama began before the finals even did. On the eve of the opening match came the bombshell that Spain coach Julen Lopetegui had been sacked for accepting the Real Madrid vacancy left by Zinedine Zidane. How would one of the pre-tournament favourites react to such a sudden blow? Initially they didn't seem overly thrown off course, judging by their display in the 3-3 draw with Portugal that saw the finals explode into life after just two days.
The football began with an eye-catching result as Russia, recipients of voluble criticism at home in the months leading up to the tournament, hammered Saudi Arabia 5-0. That win was the catalyst for an unexpectedly impressive finals for the host nation, who backed it up by destroying an Egypt side who were badly affected by Mohamed Salah not being truly fit following Sergio Ramos' hatchet job in the Champions League final.
Spain and Portugal briefly dabbled with group stage elimination before emerging from Group B, while France came through their group in effective rather than spectacular fashion. Indeed, the standout team of the group stage was Croatia, who topped Group D with a 100% record that included a sensational 3-0 drubbing of the poorest Argentina team in living memory. Lionel Messi ultimately did enough to drag his dismally mediocre team-mates into the last 16.
Brazil didn't live up to their pre-tournament billing as favourites in the early stages but did enough to top their group, although the story of the group stage came in Group F where Germany continued the curse of World Cup holders by crashing out at the first hurdle. Semi-finalists at every tournament since 2006, the implosion of the defending champions barely seemed believable, but in the end they paid a heavy price for looking complacent and impotent against teams with inferior resources but superior heart.
England's hype machine went into overdrive after they hit Panama for six, with Harry Kane filling his boots en route to take the Golden Boot prize, and despite losing their final group game to Belgium, Gareth Southgate's team played with a freedom and conviction that many of their predecessors sorely lacked. Group H was won by Colombia, with the identity of the second-placed team settled in dubious fashion. Japan and Senegal finished with identical records and drew with each other in a magnificent match, so it fell to disciplinary points to decide who would make the last 16 and who would go home. It was Japan whose slightly better behavior kept them in the tournament and denied Africa a representative in the second round for the first time since 1982.
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| Pic credit: Getty Images |
The last 16 was a captivating cocktail of dramatic matches, controversial decisions and magnificent goals, seven of which came as France put Argentina out of their misery. A few hours after Messi's World Cup dream died, Cristiano Ronaldo followed suit as Portugal's bid to add the global crown to their European title was ended by Uruguay. Spain were the next heavy hitter to fall as Russia edged them on penalties on an emotional day in Moscow, the hosts rejoicing as their fine tournament continued into the quarter-finals.
The host nation were one of three teams to progress to the last eight on penalties. Croatia did likewise and so, amazingly, did England. Southgate's men banished years and years of penalty shoot-out misery to oust Colombia by spot kicks, a reward they deserved as the South Americans indulged in disgusting gamesmanship all night. If their exit felt right, Japan's certainly didn't. The Blue Samurai stunned Belgium by taking a 2-0 lead, only to be pegged back to 2-2 and then hit by the ultimate sucker punch in stoppage time as Nacer Chadli took the hugely fortunate Belgians into a second successive quarter-final.
Having gotten quite lucky in that game, Roberto Martinez's side then gave a coming of age performance to end Brazil's involvement in the finals. As with Colombia, the Brazilians' exit was largely welcomed, not so much for the disappointing quality of their football but rather the shameful theatrics of Neymar. The PSG striker is indisputably a fine player, but he now looks likely to be recalled in years to come as a footballer who sullied the sport with unnecessary histrionics upon the merest contact with opponents.
After surviving penalties against Colombia, England then breezed past Sweden to reach their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years. Croatia bridged a 20-year gap to make the last four in one of the games of the tournament, coming through another penalty shoot-out to deny Russia a place in the semis. The mood of heartbreak for the hosts was palpable that night, but their players and supporters restored their respective reputations during the tournament.
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| Pic credit: AP |
France had made it to the semi-finals almost unnoticed but they gave an accomplished performance to defeat Belgium, who again froze in the latter stages of a major competition. Amid a mood of hysteria back home, England made a dream start against Croatia but ran out of steam and were eventually outplayed by a technically superior side. However, Southgate and his team restored pride to their country after a prolonged period of high-profile failures from previous generations.
A brilliantly open and unpredictable tournament got a final to match as France made the most of their first half luck to overpower an unfortunate Croatia team. While Les Bleus were the better side over the course of the 90 minutes at the Luzhniki Stadium, the nature of their first two goals was rather contentious. The handball for the penalty was a 50-50 call, but how did Nestor Pitana judge that Antoine Griezmann was fouled for the free kick that led to the opening goal?
Those moments aside, France proved to be the best team at the World Cup over the course of the tournament. Their defence was superb, with Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti establishing a formidable partnership. Full-backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez emerged from the shadows to excel in Russia, while the much-criticised Paul Pogba shushed his detractors with a string of magnificent performances. The pick of the bunch, though, was 19-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe. The PSG starlet showed a maturity beyond his tender years to shine on the biggest stage of them all, particularly in the final. What a joy it will be to see him become an even more formidable player over the coming years, especially with Messi and Ronaldo approaching the twilight of their careers. For coach Didier Deschamps, victory delivered sweet redemption after the huge volume of criticism he took for France blowing it in the Euro 2016 final on home soil.
What of the introduction of VAR to the World Cup? This was another subject where pre-tournament fears of unmitigated disaster proved unfounded. The technology was slick, fans watching on TV and in stadia were properly informed and, for the most part, the right decisions were made. There were a couple of cases where VAR still couldn't help the officials reach the right call, such as the soft penalty Australia received against Denmark, but if its purpose was to correct erroneous decisions by referees, it succeeded for the most part. Those who abhorred VAR earlier in the year are surely won over now by its smooth operation at the highest level.
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| Pic credit: WorldFootballIndex.com |
The tournament might not have had a genuinely exceptional team in the manner of Brazil 1970 and 1982, Netherlands 1974, France 1998 or Spain 2010, but the quality of football was a discernible improvement on the previous four World Cups of the 21st century. Only one of the 64 games in Russia ended goalless, while the red card count was a refreshingly low four, with only one of those being debatable. The modern day habit of penalty box wrestling from set pieces has not vanished entirely, as Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrovic knows all too well, but the introduction of VAR has seen it become a less frequent feature as defenders realise they might actually have to learn to defend set pieces competently. There's still plenty of improvement to be made in that regard, with 73 of the tournament's 169 goals (43%) stemming from set plays.
Some of those set piece goals were jaw-dropping, such as Ronaldo's free kick against Spain, Aleksandar Kolarov's free to defeat Costa Rica and Toni Kroos' 95th-minute winner for Germany against Sweden. Among the other memorable goals from Russia 2018 were Granit Xhaka's piledriver against Serbia, the exceptional team move for Mbappe's second against Argentina and, of course, Denis Cheryshev's barnstormer to open the scoring against Croatia. It was not a World Cup short of wow moments.
Congratulations to France on their second World Cup triumph and commiserations to Croatia on falling short of what would have been a monumental achievement. Respect to the likes of Belgium, England, Russia, Japan, Sweden and Uruguay for exceeding expectations. Peru, Senegal, Iran and Serbia might all have been eliminated in the group stage, but they all departed with heads held high, which is more than be said for the hugely disappointing Egypt, Poland, Argentina, Brazil and, hard as it still seems to believe, Germany.
It was a World Cup that made me feel reinvigorated as a football fan. The sport still has its flaws, not least the stupid gamesmanship of players like Neymar, but I dare anyone who watched the tournament from start to finish to tell me honestly that they felt underwhelmed. Russia 2018 was a truly joyous spectacle for the neutral. A very, very lofty bar has been set for the 2022 finals in Qatar to match. That's a matter for another day. For now, let us bask in the warming afterglow of what has been the best World Cup since the 1980s.
Top 10 goals
10: Angel di Maria (Argentina) v France
9: Adnan Januzaj (Belgium) v England
8: Aleksandar Kolarov (Serbia) v Costa Rica
7: Philippe Coutinho (Brazil) v Switzerland
6: Jesse Lingard (England) v Panama
5: Kylian Mbappe (France) 2nd goal v Argentina
4. Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) v Serbia
3: Toni Kroos (Germany) v Sweden
2: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 3rd goal v Spain
1: Denis Cheryshev (Russia) v Croatia
Top 5 games
5: France 4-2 Croatia
4: Serbia 1-2 Switzerland
3: France 4-3 Argentina
2: Russia 2-2 Croatia (3-4 pens)
1: Portugal 3-3 Spain
Worst 5 games
5: Uruguay 1-0 Saudi Arabia
4: Sweden 1-0 Switzerland
3: Egypt 0-1 Uruguay
2: Morocco 0-1 Iran
1: Denmark 0-0 France
Team of the tournament (4-2-3-1)
JORDAN PICKFORD (England): England's catalogue of goalkeeping howlers at major tournaments is long and hilarious, but in the Everton man they have a netminder who belied his big stage inexperience to thrive in Russia. Were it not for crucial saves against Colombia and Sweden, the Three Lions could have been making their familiar early exit.
KIERAN TRIPPIER (England): The Tottenham right-back has had to work extraordinarily hard to make it big in his career and that labour bore fruit at this year's World Cup. Dependable in his defensive duties, getting forward to great effect and scorer of a beautiful free kick against Croatia, he was magnificent throughout the tournament.
RAPHAEL VARANE (France): From being a centre-back of much promise in his teenage years, the Real Madrid man has blossomed into probably the world's best player in that position. He formed a superb partnership with Samuel Umtiti and, with plenty of years still on the clock, he's only going to become even more accomplished.
HARRY MAGUIRE (England): Little over a year ago, he was in a Hull team relegated from the Premier League. After a splendid season with Leicester, Gareth Southgate's faith in him was well and truly justified. He established a solid partnership with John Stones and proved a real set piece threat, as evidenced by his headed goal against Sweden.
LUCAS HERNANDEZ (France): For both club and country, the left-back is a quiet presence as other, more feted team-mates take the acclaim. However, his invaluable contribution to Les Bleus' triumph was highlighted by many and his is a remarkable rise, especially as Benjamin Mendy would most likely have started ahead of him were it not for long-term injury.
DENIS CHERYSHEV (Russia): Prior to the tournament, some Russian fans questioned the merits of his place in the squad. Four goals (including the goal of the tournament) and several stellar performances later, the Villarreal midfielder led by example in helping the hosts to exceed expectations.
PAUL POGBA (France): Much-maligned over the last two years, the Manchester United man came to the fore for Les Bleus in Russia. He showed a never-before-seen appetite for engine room grit and looked incredibly composed in possession, as well as scoring in the biggest game of them all. A redemptive tournament for a player who has copped a lot of flak.
EDEN HAZARD (Belgium): He was far from his best for Chelsea last season, but the Belgian skipper's truer self was on show in Russia. When he's on song, he is almost unplayable, while he has matured into a genuine leader for a star-studded Belgium team.
LUKA MODRIC (Croatia): For me, the Croatian captain richly deserved to be named FIFA's Player of the Tournament. He is the complete midfield package and, at 32, to still show such extraordinary stamina in three games that went to extra time testifies to his class. He was subdued in the final, but his performances to get Croatia that far were those of an exceptional footballer.
IVAN PERISIC (Croatia): Having been in Champions League exile with Inter Milan for the last few seasons, Perisic tends to be overlooked in discussions about the top wingers in Europe, but he has been consistently brilliant for Croatia for several years and chipped in with three goals in Russia. Unlucky with the handball in the final.
KYLIAN MBAPPE (France): Pele in 1958 and Michael Owen in 1998 were past teenage World Cup sensations; Mbappe is the 2018 version. It takes a phenomenal player to outshine Antoine Griezmann, but the PSG star managed it in Russia. Proved he is a man for the big occasion with his superb performance in the final.
SUBS: Danijel Subasic (Croatia), Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico), Toby Alderweireld (Belgium), Benjamin Pavard (France), Diego Godin (Uruguay), Samuel Umtiti (France), Aleksandar Golovin (Russia), Ante Rebic (Croatia), Jesse Lingard (England), Harry Kane (England), Philippe Coutinho (Brazil), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay)
FLOPS XI: Willy Caballero (Argentina), Jerome Boateng (Germany), Michal Pazdan (Poland), Gerard Pique (Spain), Nicolas Otamendi (Argentina), Sami Khedira (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Timo Werner (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Gabriel Jesus (Brazil)
Analysing the analysts
After TV3 waded in with some of the Euro 2016 games, this year's World Cup was the sole preserve of RTE among Irish broadcasters. As with previous tournaments, the punditry selection was a balance of light and shade, with Darragh Maloney doing a fine job as head anchor in the first World Cup since the passing of the legendary Bill O'Herlihy. We got the usual portion of sweeping statements from Eamon Dunphy, while younger panelists like Damien Duff, Richie Sadlier, Didi Hamann and newcomer Richard Dunne proved themselves as astute analysts. There were noticeably more women involved in TV studios for this year's tournament, with Jacqui Hurley getting a few goes in the anchor's chair and Irish internationals Louise Quinn and Stephanie Roche showing that their presence was more than mere gender-balancing tokenism. It was just a pity that we didn't get to hear more of Hope Solo - the outspoken ex-USA goalkeeper was compelling with her views without resorting to cheap, controversial quips.
The RTE commentary box was essentially occupied by the same old heads, which meant another tournament listening to Jim Beglin's cringeworthy puns. The real star of the telly, though, was Brian Kerr. The former Ireland manager never failed to deliver humorous one-liners while demonstrating an incredibly deep knowledge of the players involved in the matches to which he was assigned. I can't for the life of me see why people wouldn't want to hear him working his magic on the microphone.
ITV assembled a very interesting selection of pundits, from the knowledgeable Gary Neville to the low-pitched Slaven Bilic, from the frightfully inarticulate Ian Wright to the volatile human hand grenade that is Roy Keane. The quarrel between the latter two following England's semi-final defeat to Croatia became viral gold, with Keane making mincemeat of the former Arsenal striker while delivering typically withering and borderline defamatory put-downs on numerous players.
The Gospel according to Brian Kerr
As mentioned above, Kerr was never short of a brilliantly wacky quote throughout the World Cup. Here's just a selection of his inimitable wisdom.
"It looks like he's banjoed now alright." Describing an injury incurred by Morocco's Nordin Amrabat against Iran.
"Peru have a couple of knicky-knacky players." I'd love to see that popping up as a synonym for skilful on Microsoft Word!
"He has a bag of tricks, Christian Cueva. His nickname is Aladdin, so you would’ve expected him to pull something out of his magic...one of his magic ones out of the lamp or whatever." Showing off some Disney knowledge during Peru v Denmark.
"He went down like a big whinge-bag." He wasn't too pleased with the theatrics of Denmark's Nicolae Jorgensen against Peru.
"Stefan Milinkovic-Savic, that's just the one bloke." Clearing up a thing or two about the Serbian midfielder despite getting his first name (Sergej) wrong.
"Dead Eye Dick into the corner!" From the moment that Kolarov scored that free-kick against Costa Rica, his real first name is no longer Aleksandar.
"That’s the stuff you normally use to wrap up your sandwiches, and now it fixes hamstrings." Filling time while players are getting treatment is usually a tough ask for commentators, but Brian found it simple when observing a South Korean being patched up with a cling film-like bandage.
"Jaysus that's some gear." He was quite impressed with the colourful attire of a group of Senegal supporters who had the country's name spelt out on their chests along a line, each taking a letter.
"Gerrup outta that, you’re alright." An encouraging medical assessment of Mbaye Niang, who 60 seconds later put Senegal 2-0 up against Poland.
"He’s wearing a pair of those small shinpads, the sneaky ones, the type you think are made out of a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes packet." Admiring the shinpads of Uruguay's Cristian Rodriguez, identifiable for having his socks rolled down just above his ankles.
"That looked liked a Coconut Creams tackle on Mercado there." Taking the biscuit in his commentary during Argentina's defeat to Croatia.
"Peru have a couple of knicky-knacky players." I'd love to see that popping up as a synonym for skilful on Microsoft Word!
"He has a bag of tricks, Christian Cueva. His nickname is Aladdin, so you would’ve expected him to pull something out of his magic...one of his magic ones out of the lamp or whatever." Showing off some Disney knowledge during Peru v Denmark.
"He went down like a big whinge-bag." He wasn't too pleased with the theatrics of Denmark's Nicolae Jorgensen against Peru.
"Stefan Milinkovic-Savic, that's just the one bloke." Clearing up a thing or two about the Serbian midfielder despite getting his first name (Sergej) wrong.
"Dead Eye Dick into the corner!" From the moment that Kolarov scored that free-kick against Costa Rica, his real first name is no longer Aleksandar.
"That’s the stuff you normally use to wrap up your sandwiches, and now it fixes hamstrings." Filling time while players are getting treatment is usually a tough ask for commentators, but Brian found it simple when observing a South Korean being patched up with a cling film-like bandage.
"Jaysus that's some gear." He was quite impressed with the colourful attire of a group of Senegal supporters who had the country's name spelt out on their chests along a line, each taking a letter.
"Gerrup outta that, you’re alright." An encouraging medical assessment of Mbaye Niang, who 60 seconds later put Senegal 2-0 up against Poland.
"He’s wearing a pair of those small shinpads, the sneaky ones, the type you think are made out of a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes packet." Admiring the shinpads of Uruguay's Cristian Rodriguez, identifiable for having his socks rolled down just above his ankles.
"That looked liked a Coconut Creams tackle on Mercado there." Taking the biscuit in his commentary during Argentina's defeat to Croatia.
"He once shaved off his beard and made his brother a fishing fly out of it. His brother plays handball for Iceland." Who else would provide such informative insight into the family life of Iceland midfielder Aron Gunnarsson?
"If they’d scored that, Iceland could have thrown the kitchen sink and whatever else they had, a few fishing boats, at them." Pondering what might have been after Gylfi Sigurdsson's late penalty miss against Nigeria.
"Tunisia have been malojen at the back." A withering assessment of the African's defending in their 5-2 defeat to Belgium.
"If they’d scored that, Iceland could have thrown the kitchen sink and whatever else they had, a few fishing boats, at them." Pondering what might have been after Gylfi Sigurdsson's late penalty miss against Nigeria.
"Tunisia have been malojen at the back." A withering assessment of the African's defending in their 5-2 defeat to Belgium.
"He sent him around the shops for some messages." Admiring a Wahbi Khazri rabona which left Toby Alderweireld on his posterior.
"Yuto Nagatomo has written a book on yoga, so I'd say the dressing room was very relaxed at half-time." No Alex Ferguson-style teacup-throwing in the Japanese ranks, then.
"He speaks seven languages and I'd say he'll be getting abuse in seven languages after that." Multi-lingual Japan goalkeeper Elji Kawashima comes a cropper after gifting Senegal their opening goal in the teams' 2-2 draw.
"Meza has had three touches since he came on. They've been bad, brutal and worse." A less than flattering assessment of the Argentina substitute's immediate impact against Nigeria.
"Meza has had three touches since he came on. They've been bad, brutal and worse." A less than flattering assessment of the Argentina substitute's immediate impact against Nigeria.
"There's the Croatian fans in their jockeys' tops." I've heard Croatia's chequered kit being likened to a tablecloth before, but this was a new one on me.
"Two out of three isn't bad, like Meat Loaf once said." Rocking out to a double save from Kasper Schmeichel against Croatia.
"You know the cart they use for carrying injured players off the pitch? They could do with that for him going across to the other side." A valid point made in jest when Danish long throw specialist Jonas Knudsen ambled across the width of the pitch as one throw-in was immediately put out for a throw on the other touchline.
"It's like a big grapefruit that someone took the middle bit out of it." The architects behind Sochi's Fisht Stadium can spare the expense of a marketing team following this fruity observation.
"For a fella who once played as a banger with Real Madrid and got them thrown out of the Copa Del Rey, he certainly banged that into the net." His reaction to Denis Cheryshev's wonder goal against Croatia, with 'banger' being Dublin soccer parlance for an ineligible player.
"There's Vida with the funny hairdo." Ponytailed players are nothing new, although Kerr still seemed captivated by the Croatian defender's take on the hairstyle.
"His hobbies include collecting art and painting...I don't mean painting and decorating now." I missed the identity of the Belgian player being described here, but it was almost as funny as the Apres Match coverage of the third place play-off.
"He must be studying for his pilot's license the way he sent Lingard flying." His description of a robust challenge from Axel Witsel on the England midfielder.
"Two out of three isn't bad, like Meat Loaf once said." Rocking out to a double save from Kasper Schmeichel against Croatia.
"You know the cart they use for carrying injured players off the pitch? They could do with that for him going across to the other side." A valid point made in jest when Danish long throw specialist Jonas Knudsen ambled across the width of the pitch as one throw-in was immediately put out for a throw on the other touchline.
"It's like a big grapefruit that someone took the middle bit out of it." The architects behind Sochi's Fisht Stadium can spare the expense of a marketing team following this fruity observation.
"For a fella who once played as a banger with Real Madrid and got them thrown out of the Copa Del Rey, he certainly banged that into the net." His reaction to Denis Cheryshev's wonder goal against Croatia, with 'banger' being Dublin soccer parlance for an ineligible player.
"There's Vida with the funny hairdo." Ponytailed players are nothing new, although Kerr still seemed captivated by the Croatian defender's take on the hairstyle.
"His hobbies include collecting art and painting...I don't mean painting and decorating now." I missed the identity of the Belgian player being described here, but it was almost as funny as the Apres Match coverage of the third place play-off.
"He must be studying for his pilot's license the way he sent Lingard flying." His description of a robust challenge from Axel Witsel on the England midfielder.
World Cup 2018 dislikes
- The frequency of 1-0 results from the first round of group matches
- Argentina being awful
- David de Gea's blunder against Portugal
- Christian Cueva's penalty miss against Denmark
- Mohamed Salah not being fully fit and Egypt's subsequent demise
- Jim Beglin's co-commentary
- Willy Caballero's kamikaze kickout that led to Croatia's first goal in the 3-0 romp over Argentina
- Neymar acting the gowl
- Gabriel Jesus having a nightmare in front of goal and dooming my top scorer bet to the nearest dustbin
- Aleksandar Mitrovic being tag-team fouled against Switzerland but not getting a penalty
- Iceland falling in the group stage
- Panama's defending against England
- Saudi Arabia being wrongly awarded two penalties against Egypt
- Ravshan Irmatov's chaotic officiating of Iran-Portugal
- Denmark and France not bothering one iota in their meeting
- Disciplinary points being used for deciding second place in Group H
- Referees failing to penalise goalkeepers for coming three yards off their line in penalty shoot-outs
- Japan getting mugged in stoppage time by Belgium (although Keisuke Honda's corner was shocking)
- Colombia's gamemanship against England
- Fernando Muslera's shocker against France
- Brazil's flat performance against Belgium
- Sweden's woeful lack of ambition and belief against England
World Cup 2018 likes
- The 3-3 thriller between Portugal and Spain (and Cristiano Ronaldo's free kick for the last-gasp equaliser)
- Only one goalless draw out of 64 matches
- Four games on Saturday 16 June taking viewers from 11am to 10pm
- VAR solving more problems than it created
- Nigeria's beaut of a home kit
- Aleksandar Kolarov's free kick against Costa Rica
- Philippe Coutinho's curler against Switzerland
- Brian Kerr's brilliantly wacky yet very well-informed commentaries
- Milad Mohammadi's unique throw-in against Spain
- Croatia's tremendous performance against Argentina
- Serbia 1-2 Switzerland (and Granit Xhaka's superb equaliser)
- Toni Kroos' stunning free kick against Sweden
- Japan 2-2 Senegal
- Adan Januzaj's winner against England
- Michy Batshuayi inadvertently smacking the ball off his face in celebrating that goal
- France 4-3 Argentina and the cavalcade of wonder goals that day
- The atmosphere at the Luzhniki Stadium as Russia ousted Spain on penalties
- Belgium 3-2 Japan
- Denis Cheryshev's absolute peach of a goal against Croatia
- The thrilling quarter-final between Russia and Croatia
- Apres Match on the third place play-off
- An enthralling final full of chaos and class
- The absence of hooliganism, racism and homophobia at the tournament
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