2018 World Cup
14 June to 15 July
Russia
The 2018 World Cup wrapped up on Sunday with a thrilling final as France defeated Croatia 4-2 in Moscow to claim their second title. For all your football betting needs, Betway looks back on a truly memorable tournament which featured 169 goals across 64 matches.
Inspired by the midfield power of Paul Pogba and the thrilling speed of teenage attacker Kylian Mbappe, Didier Deschamps’ team proved too strong for first-time finalists Croatia, who had come through a marathon three extra time games.
‘The Blazers’ boasted the tournament’s Golden Ball winner in the shape of midfielder Luka Modric, while Belgium’s Eden Hazard and ‘Les Bleus’ attacker Antoine Griezmann took home the Silver and Bronze Balls respectively.
The triumph for France sees Deschamps become just the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach, joining legends of the game in Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo.
The 2018 World Cup is sadly over but you can still bet on 1000s of fixtures with the best odds at Betway South Africa
France’s path to victory saw them grow in strength, as their unimpressive group stage campaign was followed by far better showings in the knockout stage where they got the better of Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium.
Croatia, meanwhile, were arguably the best team in the group stage and then seemed to retreat into their shells, as they needed penalties to overcome Denmark and Russia, before turning the dial back up to come from behind against England in the semifinals.
Gareth Southgate’s ‘Three Lions’ were the surprise package of the tournament, reaching the final four for the first time since 1990 and producing the tournament’s leading goal scorer (with six strikes) in Harry Kane.
Belgium’s showing was also a highlight, with their win over Brazil in the quarterfinals arguably the best performance of any team in the tournament, and the excellence of Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Golden Glove-winning goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will live long in the memory.
In all, Russia 2018 will be remembered as arguably the best World Cup since the turn of the century and could mark the start of a period of dominance for a young and incredibly talented ‘Les Bleus’ team.
The FIFA World Cup in Numbers
64 – the number of matches played at the 2018 World Cup in Russia
5910 – the total number of minutes played (excluding stoppage time) at the tournament with five knockout round matches going to extra-time
169 – the number of goals scored in Russia, just two short of the all-time high
2.64 – average number of goals per game, less than the 2.67 registered in Brazil
20 – Croatia’s world ranking (the lowest-ranked side ever to reach the final)
16 – goals scored by Belgium, the competitions top scorers
12 – the number of own-goals scored (a World Cup record)
9 – the number of goals scored in stoppage time
6 – goals scored by Golden Boot winner Harry Kane (three of which came from the penalty spot)
69 – the record number of goals which came from set-pieces
2 – World Cup titles now achieved by France
1 – goalless games at this year’s World Cup. Astonishing.
0 – African teams in the knockout rounds – a unwanted first since 1982
29 – the number of penalties awarded (another World Cup record – 10 of which were a result of a VAR review)
22 – of those spot-kicks were converted
72 – distance in km’s covered by Croatia’s Ivan Perisic
219 – number of yellow cards dished out
49,651 – total passes completed in the entire tournament
19.64 million – people in Britain who tuned in to watch England’s quarter-final against Sweden
19 years 6 months and 25 days – Kylian Mbappe’s age. The youngest player to appear and score in a World Cup final since Pele in 1958.
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