With a second-half goal in the 4-2 win over Croatia on Sunday, France's Kylian Mbappe became the youngest player to score in the World Cup final since Pele did so in 1958. Mbappe, 19, scored his fourth goal of the World Cup in the 65th minute, collecting a pass from Lucas Hernandez and shooting right-footed from 25 yards around Croatia defender Domagoj Vida and past goalkeeper Danijel Subasic. Pele, who remains the youngest player to appear in a World Cup final, was 17 when he scored two goals in the 5-2 victory over hosts Sweden. The Brazil legend tweeted his congratulations to Mbappe after the PSG star became just the second teenager to score in a final. Following the match, Mbappe said: "Pele made football history, I am just trying to follow my own path. I am just starting out. I try to play as I have always done. I am breaking records. Scoring is always special. I have always been working toward moments like this one. This is not the end. I must continue, we must continue, because I have the ambition to go further. "Wherever my potential allows me to go. Winning a World Cup this early opens up many doors. What made me think two months ago that we could win it? You must always believe. Quality is not always enough, but it is a good base. In a competition like this one, it is not only the most beautiful that win, but those who believe the most. We believed -- iron belief. "At the start, it might have seemed ambitious, but we believed. We had to show that we could do it. I am very happy. However, we all have different cases. For example, Adil [Rami] has worked his entire career to reach this point. Me? I am just getting started. I have the rest of my story still to write. "The Ballon d'Or? Of course the World Cup plays in my favour, but I am not thinking too much about that [the Ballon d'Or]." Only the second teenager to have scored a goal in a #WorldCupFinal! Welcome to the club, @KMbappe - it's great to have some company! // O segundo adolescente a marcar um gol em uma final de #CopaDoMundo! Bem-vindo ao clube, Kylian - é ótimo ter a sua companhia! https://t.co/g8b2gLTy7B — Pelé (@Pele) July 15, 2018 And Mbappe was pretty emphatic on Twitter too. The king will always remain king 👑 — Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) July 16, 2018 Earlier in the tournament, Mbappe scored twice in the 4-3 victory over Argentina in the round of 16 and the only goal in the 1-0 group-stage victory over Peru. The Paris Saint-Germain star was rewarded with the award as the tournament's Best Young Player after Sunday's game.<doc-sep>A DECADE of dominance by France awaits. Kylian Mbappe, who scored Les Bleus’ fourth goal in the final and was later named young player of the tournament, is just 19. 13 Kylian Mbappe was named young player of the tournament at just 19 Credit: AFP or licensors Paul Pogba, scorer of his country’s brilliant third, is 25. Antoine Griezmann, who netted a controversial penalty, is 27. Full-backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez are 22 while centre-half Raphael Varane is 25. This lot, coming of age inside the Luzhniki Stadium, will be around for a long while yet. The danger is France will only get even better and that they are already the team to beat at Euro 2020 and then Qatar two years later. Paul Pogba sings 'It's coming home' as he dances with World Cup after France win 13 Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe both celebrate after winning the World Cup with France Credit: Getty - Contributor 13 France are World Cup winners after a superb tournament Credit: AP:Associated Press 13 France centre-half Raphael Varane has plenty of years left at just 25 Credit: AFP or licensors 13 France have Kylian Mbappe to fire them to even more glory in future tournaments Credit: Getty - Contributor Nobody in world football can boast a better squad. Beaten in the final of Euro 2016 as the host nation, victory over Croatia more than compensated for that disappointment of losing to Portugal. Croatia will feel hard done by, especially after France took an 18th-minute lead from a contested free-kick and were awarded a VAR penalty 38 minutes in. Beyond that, the bigger picture is France were by far and away the best team at this World Cup. 13 France players gatecrash Didier Deschamps' press conference and soak him in champagne after World Cup win MOST READ IN WORLD CUP 2018 NO HARD FEELINGS Man dumped by Gareth Southgate's wife insists he holds no grudge 'i want a girl' England star Kyle Walker's model girlfriend reveals she wants FOURTH baby It means a super-talented group of players can take their place among the giants of French football. The 1998 World Cup-winning team — Desailly, Deschamps, Zidane et al — have company now. France fans strip off to celebrate World Cup win in Bordeaux water fountains 13 France's incredible 1998-winning team has company now Credit: AFP or licensors France have been trying for years to recreate the magic, to follow up on that extraordinary day in Paris’ Stade de France when they beat Brazil 3-0. They have finally done it. Didier Deschamps, the man who captained them to glory, has now won it as the country’s head coach. The route was treacherous, with Argentina, Uruguay, Belgium and surprise finalists Croatia standing in their way. When the big players in international football showed up, France beat them all. What is more, when some pub bore starts telling you how much better Spain in 2010 were or Germany in 2014, silence them by reminding them France won every game inside 90 minutes. It will not be enough for some, because the purists will be bleating about the handball decision awarded by Argentine ref Nestor Pitana against Croatia’s Ivan Perisic which led to Griezmann’s spot-kick. Paris streets PACKED with fans as France win World Cup 2018 13 France were awarded a penalty after Ivan Perisic handled the ball in the box Credit: Getty Images - Getty The reality is France were too strong, too savvy for Croatia. They scored two belting second-half goals, working Croatia over with eye-catchers from Pogba and Mbappe. When those goals, scored within six minutes of each other, rippled the net of Danijel Subasic, the trophy was heading to Paris. France certainly knew they were fortunate to be ahead when they walked off the pitch at half-time. Griezmann, good as he is, tricked Pitana into giving them a free-kick out on the right 18 minutes in. His left-foot delivery and the flight lured Mario Mandzukic into making a challenge on Varane. The Croatian striker got there first, glancing a backward header past his own keeper to gift France an early lead. 13 Antoine Griezmann floats in a beautiful ball for France's first goal Credit: Reuters 13 Mario Mandzukic inadvertently heads in Antoine Griezmann's cross Credit: AFP or licensors Perisic responded, bringing the ball down with his right thigh before smacking a left-footed equaliser beyond Hugo Lloris. Even so, France were back in front seven minutes before the break. Blaise Matuidi’s near-post header from a corner on the right hit Perisic on the hand, forcing Pitana into a re-think when France claimed a penalty. In all, it took 4min 20sec from the handball, numerous reviews on the pitchside monitor by the official to the moment Griezmann sent Croatia keeper Subasic the wrong way. Oddly, only three minutes of added time was then played at the end of the half! 13 Antoine Griezmann punishes Croatia from the penalty spot Credit: EPA Luka Modric, named player of the tournament, was still fuming about the decision as he argued with the officials on the way out for the second half. He could not complain about the next two, though. Pogba did what Pogba can do, engineering it all with a drilled 40-yard pass out to the jet-heeled Mbappe out on the right. The strike sensation found Griezmann and he angled a pass into Pogba’s path to finish, left footed at the second attempt, for France’s third. His club manager Jose Mourinho would dearly love a bit of that magic when Pogba pulls on the Manchester United jersey again in a few weeks. 13 Kylian Mbappe scores in World Cup final for France against Croatia Credit: AFP 13 Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring in World Cup final against Croatia Credit: AFP It was a terrific hit. So, too, was Mbappe’s to put France 4-1 ahead. Hernandez found him on the edge of the area with a dreamy run through Croatia’s midfield, eventually picking the Paris Saint-Germain forward out in the 65th minute. He notched his fourth of an exceptional tournament with a masterful strike to Subasic’s right. There is no limit to what this young superstar can achieve. Croatia got one back four minutes later, a crazy goal when French captain Lloris tried to dribble round Mandzukic inside his area only to gift the ball to 32-year-old Croatian striker who rolled it home. But this was always going the way of Les Blues — who seem convinced they can go all the way when they reach major tournaments. If they keep this up, there will be no stopping them.<doc-sep>
France coach Didier Deschamps gave full credit to his young squad for winning the World Cup with Sunday's 4-2 victory over Croatia. At an average age of 26 years and one month, France were the second-youngest squad to compete in Russia after only Nigeria, and were led by a teenager in 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe, who was named Best Young Player of the tournament after scoring four goals. "How marvellous! It's a young team, who are on the top of the world," Deschamps said. "Some are champions at the age of 19. "We did not play a huge game but we showed mental quality. And we scored four goals anyway. They deserved to win. The group worked so hard and we had some tough moments along the way. It hurt so much to lose the Euro two years ago, but it made us learn too." Fourteen of France's 23 players were World Cup newcomers but Deschamps said they were ready to work towards a common goal and were mentally more mature than their age. "Talent is not sufficient. You need the psychological and mental aspects. Any team is then able to climb mountains," Deschamps said. "Sometimes I can be hard very hard with them but I do it for them and even though they are young they usually do listen." The manager singled out Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, the final's man of the match for leading the group. "The collective is always important but there are individual players who have made the difference," he said. "Those 23 players will now be linked forever whatever happens. They will go different paths but will forever be linked together and from today nothing will be the same professionally because they are world champions." France players celebrate with manager Didier Deschamps after winning the World Cup. Robert Cianflone/FIFA via Getty Images Deschamps became just the third person to win the World Cup as a player and manager with Brazil's Mario Zagallo and German Franz Beckenbauer, after captaining France to the World Cup on home soil, but he deferred the honour to his players after the game. "The win is not about me, it's the players who won the game. For 55 days, we have done a lot of work. It is the supreme coronation. We are proud to be French, to be Blues. The victory in the match belongs to them. Vive le Republic!" The coach also said France managed to overcome mistakes and imperfections with sheer mental strength to lift the trophy for the second time. "My greatest source of pride is they had they right state of mind," Deschamps told reporters. "Today there were imperfections, we did not do everything right but we had those mental and psychological qualities which were decisive for this World Cup." The 49-year-old coach, who also led France to the Euro 2016 final only to lose in Paris to Portugal, said that defeat may have been key to winning the World Cup. "Maybe if we were Euro champions we would not have been world champions today. I learned a lot from that defeat," he said. "The Euro final was different. We tried to stay relaxed this time and the players knew what they had to do and what was at stake.