It was a long wait. A very long one indeed, but Manchester United have a player in their ranks that has won a World Cup while at the club for the first time since 1966. Back then they were Sir Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles and John Connelly. This time, it is Paul Pogba.
France are the world champions for second time in football’s history after beating Croatia 4-2. Now, that the final 64th match has been played, we can look back on the last month and everything happened in Russia. Here are some of the key storylines we will remember.
Paul Pogba Wins World Cup
He maybe lost his Champions League final in 2015 and he maybe lost in the final of Euro 2016. But he won the biggest trophy of them all. Paul Pogba was one of France’s best players on the pitch in the final and he scored a beautiful long range strike to put his team into a 3-1 lead during second half. It was a dazzling performance where Pogba’s long passing was brilliant once again, setting Kylian Mbappe free on a couple of occasions. Now, he will be returning to Manchester as one of the world’s best and that is the most important tag someone could attach to him. Hopefully this success in Russia will be a trigger for Pogba becoming a true leader at United and a player that will pull the club towards the greatest heights.
Romelu Lukaku Shows Maturity For Belgium
It was a pure joy watching Romelu Lukaku at this World Cup. At 24, he is already Belgium’s best goal-scorer of all time. At this tournament, he was one of the natural leaders. Pictures of him holding talks to his teammates before matches could be found everywhere on the internet before every game, even those he did not play, like the one against England in group stages. His performances against Japan and Brazil were stunning, helping his team to make two great victories on their way towards the best ever finish at the World Cup.
Man United Duo Part Of England’s Great Result
It did not come home in the end, but symbolically it really did. England enjoyed a World Cup like they have not in the past 28 years and it was great to see a young, vibrant and positive side do well. In the end, they finished fourth, after losing to Belgium for the second time, but overall, Gareth Southgate did a great job. Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young were the two Man United players who took a big part in this result, playing in the starting XI most of the matches. Lingard scored a beautiful goal against Panama, while Young was mostly reliable. Marcus Rashford and Phil Jones were also part of this squad.
Nemanja Matic And Serbia Fail In Their Quest
One of the teams that was really hoping to progress from their group were Serbia. They failed to beat Switzerland in their key match of Group E and in the end, it was the Swiss who booked a place in round of 16. Nemanja Matic was one of the leading players for Serbia at this tournament, finally making a debut at the biggest stage, but failed to impress. Matic never really got to his usual self in this tournament and Serbia only got a win over Costa Rica. In the end that was not enough for them to go through and Matic will want to bounce back with Man United.
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