00:00The tournament itself was a roaring success.
00:05The hosts lit the blue touch paper
00:07with a jubilant 5-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia in the opening game.
00:13Cristiano Ronaldo starred,
00:15Germany suffered their earliest exit in 80 years,
00:19and own goals topped the scoring charts,
00:22reflecting the volume of madcap matches in a thrilling tournament.
00:27It took a record 63 contests,
00:30before a scoreless draw.
00:34Since a couple of years,
00:36I was saying that this will be the best World Cup ever.
00:41Today, I can say it even more,
00:45with more conviction,
00:48because I lifted and you lifted.
00:50It is the best World Cup ever.
00:53After reaching the final of Euro 2016,
00:56France were among the favourites,
00:58but expectations were tempered
01:00by the propensity of Les Bleus to implode
01:02on football's greatest stage.
01:05Like at the disastrous World Cup of 2010,
01:09in which a winless squad went on strike
01:11after Nikola Anelka was sent home
01:13by then-manager Raymond Domenech.
01:18But this was now Didier Deschamps' side.
01:21The man who lifted the World Cup in 1998
01:23was not to be trifled with,
01:26even if that meant a more cautious playing style,
01:29despite the abundant attacking riches at his disposal.
01:34He wins wherever he goes,
01:37because he has the playing experience,
01:39which helps him now.
01:40He's a coach.
01:41He also can quickly analyse a match
01:43and the players' profiles.
01:46The group phase in Russia was a case in point.
01:50France only scored once from open play
01:52as they eked out unconvincing wins
01:55against Australia and Peru
01:56before settling for a goalless draw with Denmark.
02:01Their reward was a round of 16 clash
02:04against Lionel Messi's Argentina.
02:08The heavyweight pairing delivered
02:10the match of the tournament.
02:13Messi made two assists
02:15and Angel Di Maria scored a thunderbolt.
02:18But it wasn't enough
02:20as Benjamin Pavard scored the goal of the World Cup
02:23and Kylian Mbappé proved irresistible
02:26as France prevailed 4-3.
02:29After that glut of goals,
02:31entertainment was at a premium
02:33in a quarter-final victory over Uruguay,
02:35while semi-final progress
02:37came at the expense of Belgium,
02:39who entered the match favourites
02:41after a two-year unbeaten run.
02:45But it was France that reached the decider,
02:48led by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris,
02:51marshaled by the classy Raphael Varane
02:53and protected by the indefatigable N'Golo Conte.
03:01His role is not in the spotlight
03:03as it should.
03:05That's football.
03:06The players who are more creative
03:08and more decisive.
03:10But for every coach,
03:11the first player you put on the line-up
03:13is often that player
03:14because he's essential.
03:17He's at the heart of the game
03:19and he's the link between
03:20offence and defence.
03:27The final against surprise packet Croatia
03:29was the tournament in microcosm.
03:32The opening goal was an own goal.
03:36The video assistant referee,
03:38in operation for the first time
03:40at a World Cup,
03:41played its part awarding a penalty.
03:44And there were goalkeeping howlers.
03:49But rising above the chaos once again
03:52was Mbappé,
03:53whose goal brought him alongside Pele
03:55as the only teenagers to score
03:57in a World Cup final.
04:02As confetti rained down on Moscow's Luzhniki stadium,
04:06household names like Antoine Griezmann
04:08and Paul Pogba
04:09enjoyed their moments in the spotlight.
04:12But it was clear that this final
04:13heralded the dawning of the age of Mbappé.
04:17Mbappé has shown us who he is,
04:20both with his club
04:21and with the national team.
04:23He's already doing really well
04:24in the present,
04:25but he's also the future of football.
04:27He embodies football
04:28post-Christian Ronaldo,
04:30post-Messi.
04:31He's an outstanding player.
04:33The victorious French squad
04:35returned to a hero's welcome
04:36and an audience with the president.
04:39You made your families proud.
04:42You made each and every one
04:43of those clubs
04:44that has seen your beginnings proud.
04:46Each of those clubs
04:47that are today yours.
04:49You have made an entire country proud
04:51because you won all together.
04:53Because you have demonstrated
04:54these values
04:55that I talked about earlier.
04:57Because you have married
04:58individual excellence
04:59with the unrequited sense
05:01of collectiveness.
05:04Emmanuel Macron awarded
05:06the successful squad
05:07the Legion of Honour,
05:09the highest French order of merit.
05:12It's always an honour,
05:15a privilege to meet with the president
05:18and to have this decoration
05:19in the name of the Republic.
05:25Mbappé went back
05:26to his childhood roots
05:27in the Parisian commune of Bondi,
05:29where he was idolised.
05:32It means the world for the kids.
05:35My son has been playing
05:36in Bondi for two years
05:37and Kylian inspires him.
05:39He speaks very well.
05:42He's well-educated,
05:43not big-headed.
05:47Mbappé also donated
05:49his entire World Cup salary,
05:51about 400,000 euros,
05:53to a charity providing
05:55sporting opportunities
05:56to children with disabilities.
06:00It shows that his hard work
06:01has paid off.
06:03He never forgets
06:03where he comes from.
06:04So it's a good thing for us.
06:07With Mbappé leading the line,
06:09France almost defended
06:11their World Cup crown
06:12four years later.
06:13But Argentina and Messi
06:15exacted their revenge.
06:19But nothing can take away
06:21the glory of 2018.
06:22T
06:23T
06:23T
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