France is the established power with a young team full of speed and skill. Croatia has the veterans that have shown they can never be counted out.
The two sides are facing on Sunday in the World Cup final, with France going for its second title in its third final in 20 years. Croatia, a country that only gained independence in 1991, will be playing in its first.
Both France and Croatia have named unchanged sides from those who won their respective semi-final victories for Sunday's World Cup final in Moscow, reports independent.co.uk.
Kylian Mbappe will continue to start from the right with Antoine Griezmann backing up Chelsea's Olivier Giroud, who is named as the lone striker by Didier Deschamps despite being yet to score a goal in Russia.
Blaise Matuidi will again begin on the left to offer more defensive support, with the impressive duo of Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante going up against Croatia's so-far dominant midfield of Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic.
Sime Vrsaljko has shaken off a knock to his knee that saw him withdrawn against England on Wednesday and Ivan Perisic, who scored the equaliser and set up the winner in that game, calms any fears that he was going to miss the game by starting from the left.
Croatia had one day less than France to recover from their semi-final exploits and fatigue could be a factor as they were taking to extra-time for the third consecutive game, meaning they have played 60 minutes more than their opponents en route to the final.
France XI: Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez, Pogba, Kante, Matuidi, Griezmann, Giroud, Mbappe.
Croatia XI: Subasic, Vrsaljko, Strinic, Lovren, Vida, Rakitic, Modric, Brozovic, Perisic, Mandzukic, Rebic.
“Tradition is there to be demolished,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said Saturday. “I’m not interested who is the opponent.”
Most consider France to be the favourite for the match at the Luzhniki Stadium, just like two years ago when the country’s national team faced Portugal in the European Championship final at home.
But perhaps feeling complacent after beating Germany in the semifinals, France flopped.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen again,” said France captain Hugo Lloris, who has been stellar in goal during this year’s tournament. “We are far from thinking on our side that we have already reached the goal.”
Lloris was the goalkeeper in that 1-0 loss in Paris, facing a Portugal team that had reached the final after some extra-time victories.
Croatia has done the same this year, needing penalty kicks to beat Denmark and host Russia before defeating England in extra time in the semifinals.
France coach Didier Deschamps has made some changes to his team, however. Fourteen, to be exact, from the 23 players who made up the squad two years ago.
Another factor in France’s favour is rest. The French had only two days of rest between the Euro 2016 semifinals and the final. This time, they have four full days to recover, one more than Croatia.
“A lot of things have changed,” Lloris said. “Especially when it comes to recovery and preparation time.”