Nigeria wins best kit award at Russia 2018 as France take trophy home with 4-2 victory over Croatia

NIGERIA has been recognised as the country with the best kit at the recently concluded World Cup in Russia which ended yesterday with France taking home the Jules Rimet trophy after beating Croatia 4-2 in the final.

In a pulsating final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow that gave the world a fitting end to an outstanding tournament, France's Les Bleus lifted the trophy for the second time in their history.  Despite Croatia having the majority of possession in the opening stages, France took the lead in somewhat fortuitous circumstances after Antoine Griezmann's lofted free kick from the French right was nodded into his own net by Mario Mandzukic in the 18th minute.

Ivan Perisic levelled for Croatia in the 28th minute with a calm effort from the edge of the penalty area but shortly afterwards  he would turn from hero to villain. He ended up handling cross from the French, leading to Argentine referee Nestor Pitanaa awarding France a penalty after a VAR review.

After the interval, France increased their lead through Paul Pogba, who scored with a sweet left foot volley in the 59th minute after his initial shot was blocked. In the 65th minute, teenaged Kylian Mbappe then put victory beyond doubt, hitting a sweet effort from the edge of the penalty area, making him the second teenager ever besides Pele, to score in a World Cup final.

At 4-1 up, the destination of the trophy was effectively sealed, with France joining the elite band of nations to become multiple World Cup winners after their initial triumph in 1988. In the 69th minute, Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic reduced the deficit capitalising on some carelessness by French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to make the scoreline 4-2 but this was only really a consolation.

With the victory, the French coach Didier Deschamps becomes only the third man in history to win the World Cup as both a player and manager. Only Mario Zagallo of Brazil and Franz Beckanbauer of Germany have also achieved this feat.

Apart from the main trophy itself, other awards that were lifted yesterday include that of golden boot for top scorer won by England's Harry Kane, that of the golden ball for being best player of the tournament won by Croatia's Luca Modric and that of best goalkeeper of the tournament won by Belgium's Thibaut Courtois. Belgium's Eden Hazard won the silver ball, while France's Antoine Griezmann won the bronze ball.

Griezmann also won the silver boot, while Belgium's Romelu Lukaku won the bronze boot and Mbappe being named the best young player of the tournament. Nigeria was voted the team with the best kit by all the commentators at the tournament that saw 169 goals scored in 64 matches, with Belgium topping the chart having found the back of the net a whopping 16 times.

Brazil's Neymar had the highest number of attempts on goal, with 27 shots, while England's John Stones covered the most distance, managing to run 69km. Spain's Sergio Ramos completed a total of 285 passes, making him the highest passer, while Courtois made a total; of 27 saves.