France and Croatia will compete in an unprecedented World Cup final.

Marcelo Brandão, reporter for Agência Brasil - After 24 days and 63 matches, the 2018 World Cup will have its final chapter today (14) at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, starting at 12:00 pm (Brasília time). France and Croatia are the only two of the 32 teams remaining in the competition and will play an unprecedented final. With its fast attack and skillful midfield, France is the favorite, as it has been since the beginning of the World Cup.

In early June, however, other teams were also among those with a chance of reaching the final. Among them were Brazil, Spain, and Germany. All fell prematurely, except for France. If the title goes to "Les Bleus," it will have been thanks to Mbappé and Griezmann. The two forwards have been outstanding in the country's campaign in this World Cup.

They also have the luxurious company of a talented and fast midfield, composed of Pogba, Matuidi, and Kanté. Even with all this quality, France is focused on winning, not on inspiring the world with its football. In most decisive matches, the French have allowed their opponents to attack and relied on fast counter-attacks. It has worked.

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And Croatia wasn't among the favorites. But the Eastern European team had the talent to go far in the World Cup. The Croatian midfield isn't celebrated for nothing: Modric and Rakitic are starters for Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​respectively. Striker Mandzukic, who scored the winning goal to reach the final, plays for Juventus, currently the best team in Italy.

Coach Zlatko Dalic also benefited from a good World Cup performance from striker Perisic, right-back Vrsaljko, and defenders Lovren and Vida, as well as his goalkeeper. Subasic saved four penalties, proving crucial to the team's progress in the tournament.

A team like that was expected to reach the quarterfinals, where they would exit honorably. But Croatia showed, in addition to quality ball control in midfield, great commitment and determination in the knockout matches. Every ball is contested as if it were the last; players played consecutive extra times, injured, but never gave up on victory.

It is undeniable, however, that Croatia enters the field more tired. While France secured its qualification in all three knockout matches within regulation time, Croatia played three periods of extra time, totaling 90 minutes more than the French. Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic is aware of his players' physical condition, and to make matters worse, they had one less day of rest. France played the first semi-final, and Croatia only beat England the following day.

"The players will tell me if they are ready or not. Yes, some did not train, but we no longer have to train. We do have small problems, but I believe we will solve them all today [Saturday]," said Dalic, at the press conference held yesterday (14).

France and Croatia have faced each other four times, in official matches and friendlies. France has won three times and there has been one draw. Croatia has never beaten the French. But Dalic showed no concern for the unfavorable statistics and the underdog status in this final.

"Statistics and records are here to be broken. It doesn't matter who your opponent is in the final. Our goal is to give our best; the whole world will be watching Croatia. We came to enjoy the game and win it," said the coach.

On the other side, France doesn't feel like the favorite. Coach Didier Deschamps preaches respect for the opponent and praised Dalic's work leading the national team. "I have great respect for the Croatian players and coach Zlatko Dalic. We can't forget what he did for such a small country."