France

France get heroes' welcome in Paris

A 4-2 win over Croatia in Moscow on Sunday secured France their second World Cup triumph, sparking non-stop celebrations back home.

Supporters swarmed the Champs-Elysees, Paris' most famous avenue, after the game and saw their heroes projected on to the Arc de Triomphe, with more than a million people reported to have taken to the street in the area to celebrate through the night.

Mbappe wins Young Player award

The Paris Saint-Germain star is the second France player in a row to win the prize, after team-mate Paul Pogba claimed four years ago.

The award, which can only be won by players born on or after January 1, is given to the outstanding young footballer at the finals.

"Technical qualities such as skill, style and charisma are taken into account, but so are other important factors such as a sense of fair play and a genuine impression that the player is playing for the love of the game," according to FIFA.

France 4 Croatia 2

Following a tournament packed with thrills and drama, the final at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium lived up to what preceded it from the moment Les Bleus hit the front through an 18th-minute own goal by Mario Mandzukic – a cruel role reversal for Croatia's extra-time hero in the semi-final win over England.

Zlatko Dalic's side had started the stronger and levelled through a fine Ivan Perisic strike before the Inter player was harshly adjudged to have handled in the box, as VAR made its first impact upon a World Cup final.

France 1 Belgium 0

Defender Umtiti headed home a corner from Antoine Griezmann in the 51st minute to settle the all-European tie, booking Les Bleus a trip to Moscow and a clash against either Croatia or England.

Goalkeepers Hugo Lloris and Thibaut Courtois both made smart saves to make sure an intriguing game remained scoreless at the interval.

However, Umtiti popped up with the game's telling moment early in the second half, nodding the ball home to score his third international goal.

Pogba and De Bruyne eye Zidane path

France are two wins away from emulating their celebrated class of 1998, who prevailed 3-0 in the World Cup final against Brazil on home soil thanks largely to a first-half brace from Zidane.

The ex-Juventus and Real Madrid great was only just getting started.

Uruguay 0 France 2

Following an opening passage high on energy but bereft of quality, Varane glanced home a Griezmann free-kick to open the scoring before the Atletico Madrid man doubled France's advantage just after the hour mark in a moment to forget for Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.

Griezmann found space 25 yards out and fired in a shot that should have been routine for Muslera but the ball slipped through his grasp and into the net.

Preview: France v Argentina

Didier Deschamps' men have struggled to hit top gear in the World Cup so far, although they still managed to top Group C with seven points from three games. However, a turgid goalless draw with Denmark on Tuesday - a stalemate that ensured France finished first and Denmark qualified - attracted plenty of negative headlines.

Next up is a blockbuster clash with Argentina - and Umtiti's Barcelona club-mate Lionel Messi - in the last 16 on Saturday and the former Lyon man says only the result counts in Kazan.

France 1 Peru 0

France were fortunate in their 2-1 opening win over Australia and they had slices of luck again at the Ekaterinburg Arena on Thursday.

Mbappe's goal, which came from close-range after Olivier Giroud's shot took a wicked deflection to beat goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, saw the 19-year-old become the youngest player to score for France at a major international tournament.

As they did in losing narrowly to Denmark, Peru had plenty of chances, returning captain Paolo Guerrero firing at Hugo Lloris and Pedro Aquino clipping the post with a super strike from range.

Four new faces for All Blacks in Dunedin, France drop skipper

With the series already wrapped up, coach Steve Hansen has made 11 changes to the match-day 23 to both cover injuries and to give four new players a taste of Test rugby.

Flanker Shannon Frizell and centre Jack Goodhue will make their debuts in the run-on side with Jackson Hemopo and Richie Mo'unga to come off the bench.

From the side which won the second Test in Wellington 26-13 last weekend, Beauden Barrett, Liam Squire and Vaea Fifita were ruled out because of injury.

Saint-Andre France will grow again

Benjamin Fall's early red card - rescinded by a World Rugby judicial committee 48 hours later - left Les Bleus a man light in the second Test against an All Blacks side who, to say the least, have had their number in recent years. At the Westpac Stadium in Wellington - a venue known as 'The Cake Tin' - the visitors were cooked after 12 minutes, eventually going down 26-13 to lose the series with a game to spare.