Soccer tournament finals can be nervy anticlimaxes played by teams more conscious of making mistakes than seizing the initiative. Nobody told the French and Croatian teams. The half-a-million Australians who woke up on a very chilly Monday morning in some cities to watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup final saw more goals than the previous four finals combined. The 4-2 win to France began with Croatia engaging at pace, undoing the commentators who thought this ageing side might still be shattered from the three extra-time marathons they took to get there. Didier Deschamps has now become the third man to win a World Cup as both player and coach, and has a young side of which more will be expected. And Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic finished with the comment of the tournament, calling a game it must have broke his heart to lose "maybe the best match we have played at this World Cup". Is it really four years until the next one?