World Cup 2018: Top 5 goals
Russia welcomed 32 teams in June to live the most electrifying sports show on earth, and it certainly did not disappoint. France got away with the trophy after deploying a fantastic and balanced brand of football which some may say was as efficient as valuable.
France took down Croatia in the final 4-2, giving football fans the final with the most goals scored since England's 4-2 win over Germany in 1966, although extra time made its presence in that match.
The last final game with at least six goals in ninety minutes was Brazil's thrashing of Sweden in 1958, Pelé's arrival with 17 years of age, similar to 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé's abrupt display of pace, confidence, and goalscoring we saw in the past World Cup for winners France.
France took its second title in the last 20 years (six World Cups) in its third final in the same span. French coach Didier Deschamps became the third person to win the World Cup both as a player and a coach, joining Brazilian Mário Zagallo (1958 and 1962 as a player, 1970 as a coach), and German legend Franz Beckenbauer (1974 as a player, and 1990 as a coach). Beckenbauer and Deschamps are the only two to win the championship as captains and coaches.
With a goal-tally of 169, which fell just two short of the record (171 in 2014 and 1998), the 2018 World Cup was full of action and drama. The group stage was packed with the reigning champions, Germany, failing to advance.
Own goals played a prominent role, even in the deciding match, with Mario Mandzukic scoring the first-ever own goal in a World Cup final. The own goal number in this tournament (12) is a record.
The average number of goals scored per game in the championship stood at 2.64. Harry Kane was the leading goalscorer in the tournament with six, while Belgian Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann, Mbappé, and Russian Denis Cheryshev followed the English striker with four goals each.
It is time to take a look into the top 5 goals scored in the fantastic 2018 FIFA World Cup.
#5 Toni Kroos / Germany versus Sweden
Germany's run in the group stage had more bad moments than anything else. In its second match in the first round, the reigning champions had a fierce encounter with Sweden.
The Swedish side took the lead in the first half with an Ola Toivonen precise finish over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Germany responded in the early stages of the second half with a good play on the left-hand side by Timo Werner and an improvised knee-finish by Dortmund's Marco Reus.
Jerome Boateng got sent off with ten minutes left and Germany's dream appeared to disappear in front of their eyes until Werner earn a foul in the left-hand side and Toni Kroos elected to score one of the most beautiful and dramatic goals of the group stage in Russia.