Neuer is in Germany World Cup squad, Sane left out

France have shut out all the euphoria back home over their run to the World Cup final in order to play a perfect match against Croatia on Sunday, France captain Hugo Lloris said.

The goalkeeper said the team were not being swept up by the wave of celebrations back home and were keeping their focus firmly on their shot of earning a second World Cup title after 1998 when they take on the Croatians in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.

"To be honest we are in our little bubble and we don't know what is happening in France," Lloris told reporters on Saturday.

"We are far from thinking that we have reached our goal. We will face a high-quality opponent and they deserve as much credit as we do.

"They have displayed their physical and mental strengths and tomorrow we will need a great French team to win."

France have never needed to go beyond 90 minutes in their run to the final after beating Argentina in the round of 16, Uruguay in the last eight and Belgium in the semi-finals.

But Croatia had to battle from a goal down in all three of their knockout matches to beat Denmark, Russia and England.

They played extra time in all of them and needed penalties against the Danes and hosts Russia.

"Croatia have shown their mental strength which is quite incredible. They have managed to qualify after extra time three times in a row. There is something special in this team," Lloris warned.

"They also have an incredible collective strength. We have a lot of respect for them. We need to perform at a high level and deliver a perfect match to win," said the keeper.

France are in their third World Cup final after winning in 1998 and losing to Italy in 2006. They also reached the Euro final on home soil two years ago only to lose to Portugal.

Lloris said that defeat was not on their minds any longer, with many current players not part of the 2016 team.

"I think that our team is quite calm. I do not really know if we realise how far we have come but it is better that way," Lloris said. "We have this inner strength from the beginning of the tournament with which we can overcome any challenge."

"Tomorrow will be the most important match of our career. It will be a special match because it is a World Cup final and we have to stay in our bubble to focus on the ultimate goal."

Jamal Musiala scored once and set up three more goals as Germany crushed visitors Hungary 5-0 on Saturday in a winning start to the Nations League competition.

New-look Germany, who have set their sights on the 2026 World Cup after their quarter-final run at the Euro on home soil in July, no longer have any 2014 World Cup winners in the squad following the international retirements of Thomas Mueller, Toni Kroos and Manuel Neuer.

Former captain Ilkay Gundogan also ended his international career.

They took the lead in their Group A3 encounter with Niclas Fuellkrug's tap-in from midfielder Musiala assist following a good passing combination in the 27th minute.

Germany, who play Netherlands on Tuesday and also face Bosnia in their group, should have added at least one more goal with Kai Havertz hitting the crossbar with a header in the 33rd and then firing narrowly wide in first half stoppage time.

With Hungary pushing for an equaliser, Musiala struck on the break in the 58th, completing a quick counter-attack from a visitors' corner.

Florian Wirtz then drilled in their third after a one-two with Musiala in the 66th before Havertz hit the woodwork once more.

Man-of-the-match Musiala then sent through Aleksandar Pavlovic in the 77th to slot in.

"It is fun to watch that today," said scorer Fuellkrug. "Jamal was in really good form. It is great to have him in the squad.

"We made a lot of deep runs and made it really hard for the opponents. Even when we did not have possession we controlled the game," he said.

Havertz still had time to get onto the scoresheet himself with an 81st minute penalty.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said on Monday he will make a call on his future after Euro 2024, the 2014 World Cup winner's eighth major tournament.

The 38-year-old said he "could not yet reveal" whether this would be his last dance in Germany colours, adding "I'll turn my mind to it after the tournament."

Neuer returned to action for Bayern Munich in October after almost a year out of the game with a broken leg, during which he lost the Germany captaincy to Barcelona's Ilkay Gundogan.

Neuer returned and was restored as Germany's No.1 by coach Julian Nagelsmann, despite a series of errors at club and international level in the lead-up to the hosts' Euro 2024 opener against Scotland.

The veteran made errors in Germany's pre-tournament friendlies against Ukraine and Greece and also committed a cardinal error for Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid in May.

While Neuer's status alongside Germany greats like Oliver Kahn and Sepp Maier is secure, the errors led to growing calls to replace him -- particularly with Barcelona's Marc-Andre Ter Stegen waiting in the wings.

Just days out from the tournament opener against Scotland, a survey of 80,000 readers of German tabloid Bild found 72 percent wanted Ter Stegen to take over from Neuer.

"I didn't read anything about it," Neuer said, adding "the focus for me was on the first game against Scotland and the upcoming matches."

Neuer was not tested in the 5-1 win over Scotland on Friday, where Germany's only goal conceded came off the head of Antonio Rudiger.

"I've actually always done it in such a way that I go into the analysis with those responsible here and we discuss everything, look at the pictures and then evaluate everything.

"That's why I haven't given much thought to this debate. Of course, the relationship of trust between our team and the players is important."

Croatia captain Luka Modric says determination and self-belief were always more important than physical stature in football and that will be as true in Sunday's World Cup final as in any other match.

At 1.72 metres (5ft 8in) and 66kg (146 lbs), the Croatia playmaker can cut a diminutive figure on the pitch but he has few rivals when it comes to skill, game-management and stamina.

On Sunday, the winner of four Champions League titles with Real Madrid will play the biggest match of his life against France and size will be the last thing on his mind.

"I've always ignored such talk," he told reporters on the eve of his nation's first World Cup final.

"I have never doubted myself even if others did, I always believed I could get to where I am today and thank God this came true.

"You don't have to be a giant to play football, I'm happy with where I am. I am happy with where I am and I never cared what anyone else said, it only further motivated me."

France will be clear favourites to win a second World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium and Croatia will be relying on the resilience that got them through three lots of extra time and two penalty shootouts in their knockout matches.

Many of this generation of Croatian players grew up during the war following the break-up of Yugoslavia, however, and that have given them a mental toughness.

"I’ve seen a great deal of hardship in my life," added Modric, who lived in refugee hostels for several years as a child.

"The most important thing is to never give up, never give in to circumstances, believe yourself and to soldier on no matter what's in your way.

"There are ups and downs but whatever happens, you have to trust and believe in yourself.

"Fight for your dreams and success. This is what has always guided me."

Despite all the talent in their ranks, Croatia's place at the World Cup was in jeopardy as late as last October when Zlatko Dalic took over and Modric paid tribute to the impact the coach has had on the team.

"We are in the World Cup final, that was the influence of the coach," the 32-year-old said.

"He came into the picture at a very difficult moment ... In the first game, he talked us up to give us self-belief and told us we were still good players despite this crisis.

"He brought us calmness, he perked us up and what we most like is his sincerity and his attitude towards each and every player. We like having him around, he's shown his influence, not just as a coach but more importantly as a human being."

Cristiano Ronaldo had the most attempts on target and hosts Germany made best use of their chances in the first round of pool matches at the European Championship, while a forward from Romania has been the quickest across the grass so far.

Ronaldo did not get on the scoresheet from his three shots on target in Portugal's 2-1 victory over Czech Republic on Tuesday and is one of four players to have five attempts at goal in total along with France's Marcus Thuram, Georgia's Georges Mikautadze and Christian Eriksen of Denmark.

It has been a tournament for early – and late - goals so far, with six of the 34 netted inside the opening 15 minutes, and 14 in the first half-hour. There have been four goals scored past the 90-minute mark already.

With a healthy average of 2.84 goals per game, or one every 32 minutes, only five of the 24 teams failed to find the back of the net in their opening fixtures.

Albania's Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest goal in Euros history after 23 seconds against Italy, though his side ended up losing 2-1.

Portugal lead the possession numbers with 69 per cent, while hosts Germany were similarly dominant with 68 per cent as they thumped Scotland 5-1.

The Germans have the best passing accuracy with 94 per cent, led by their 21-year-old attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala, who completed 100 per cent of his 33 passes to teammates.

Serbia put in the joint most number of tackles with 20 in their 1-0 loss to England, a figure matched by Turkey in their rip-roaring 3-1 victory over Georgia.

Germany's players come out to warm up ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 Group A football match between Germany and Scotland at the Munich Football Arena in Munich on June 14, 2024. Photo: AFP

Two players managed two assists in the first round of games, Romania forward Dennis Man as they beat Ukraine 3-0 and, perhaps more surprising, Netherlands defender Nathan Ake in the 2-1 victory over Poland.

Turkey had the most shots at goal as a team with 22, one more than the Netherlands, and also had the highest expected goals (xG) - a measure of how promising their chances were - with 2.62.

The most efficient side was Germany, who netted five times from an xG of 2.04, and the most wasteful Croatia as they were held scoreless by Spain in their 3-0 loss despite an xG of 2.27.

Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek was the busiest between the posts, making seven saves, one more than the Netherlands' Bart Verbruggen.

There were four players who clocked running at over 35 kilometres per hour, headed by Romania forward Valentin Mihaila (35.9km/h).

Belgium's Jeremy Doku (35.3), Rasmus Hojlund (35.3) from Denmark and France captain Kylian Mbappe (35.2) were the others.

No player covered more grass than Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who ran 13.9 kilometres against England.