Sampaoli to leave out Higuain, Dybala

France managed to overcome mistakes and imperfections in their World Cup final victory over Croatia with sheer mental strength to lift the trophy for the second time, coach Didier Deschamps said on Sunday.

France overpowered Croatia 4-2 to lift the trophy and Deschamps became only the third man, after Brazil's Mario Zagallo and German Franz Beckenbauer to win it both as player and coach.

But they were made to sweat for about an hour and needed an own goal and a penalty to take the lead.

"My greatest source of pride is they had the right state of mind," Deschamps, who had captained France to the 1998 title, 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."

France took the lead from a Mario Mandzukic own goal and they had to soak up a sustained Croatian offensive, including a 28th-minute equaliser, before going in front with a penalty.

They then struck twice midway through the second half to put the game beyond the Croats.

Deschamps said 14 of his players were World Cup newcomers but 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."

Among the newcomers are Kylian Mbappe who was voted young player of the tournament and scored France's fourth goal.

"The collective is always important but there are individual players who have made the difference," he said, naming Mbappe and man-of-the-match Antoine Griezmann.

"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.

"We will realise what has happened tomorrow," he said after his players stormed the news conference twice to douse him with champagne. "At the moment they do not know what it is to be world champions."

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."

Didier Deschamps proclaimed France’s second World Cup triumph was “just as beautiful” as their first after leading them to glory again 20 years on, but Croatia defender Dejan Lovren said that Deschamps' team "did not play football."

"I'm disappointed because we lost the game, we played much, much better football than them, but on the other hand I'm proud of this team and what we have achieved," Lovren said.

"We played beautiful football again. France were one of the favourites to win the World Cup and they did it. I think we were better. They did it another way. They didn't play football, they waited for their chances and they scored. They had their own tactic and you need to respect that. They played the tournament like that, every game, but when you look at all the countries behind us, we're second.” he added.

"There's nothing to talk about now. It's difficult to describe. Maybe after a week or two, a couple of months... right now, it's difficult. Some moments I feel sad, some moments I'm happy. Overall, I'm proud."

Ivan Perisic conceded the first-half penalty after referee Nestor Pitana penalised him for handball following a VAR review.

"I was sure he would not give the pen," said the Liverpool centre-back. "From my point of view, he [Perisic] could not react.

"It was a critical moment, we came back at 1-1, and then this penalty and then 3-1, 4-1, but even then we didn't stop playing football, we still believed, we gave everything, and this is why people are proud now in Croatia."

Didier Deschamps' side had claimed a 1-0 over Belgium in the semifinals with a defensive masterclass which left Belgium star Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois deeply unimpressed with what he felt were overly cagey tactics by France in the semi-final, and now Lovren also felt the frustration of coming up against Deschamps's style. Not always the most entertaining, however, in the end, French squad just had too much talent at its disposal to get the job done.

The unthinkable prospect of a World Cup without Argentina or Lionel Messi could move a step closer to becoming reality on Thursday as the South American giants prepare to face arch-rivals Chile in a crucial battle on the road to Russia 2018.

Argentina, who last failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1970, saw their progress towards next year's finals go awry in 2016 when back-to-back draws with Venezuela and Peru were followed by defeats against Paraguay and Brazil.

Although they bounced back to beat Colombia 3-0 in a home qualifier last November, they remain outside the automatic qualifying places in fifth place, with 19 points from 12 games.

A defeat against fourth-placed Chile on Thursday in Buenos Aires would leave Argentina further adrift of the automatic qualifying spots.

And if Colombia beat lowly Bolivia in their home game, as expected, Argentina could even finish the day further down the pecking order, outside of the fifth-place playoff berth they currently occupy.

With a trip to face Bolivia in the thin air of La Paz awaiting them next Tuesday -- where Argentina have rarely performed well -- it means the two-time World Cup-winners can ill afford to slip up against the Chileans.

Argentina defeated Chile in Santiago earlier in the qualifiers, winning 2-1 in March last year.

However since then Chile inflicted another soul-destroying defeat on the Argentines in a major final, winning the Copa America Centenario final on penalties last June, a year after an identical outcome in the 2015 tournament.

The Copa America Centenario defeat prompted the departure of Gerardo "Tata" Martino as Argentina coach in July, triggering the slump in form which has left their World Cup qualifying campaign in the balance.

The only consolation for new Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza is that opponents Chile are grappling with their own set of problems, notably the suspension of Arturo Vidal and a fitness concern surrounding Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez.

Sanchez trained with the team in Santiago this week despite suffering an ankle injury while on Arsenal duty last weekend.

Brazil on cusp

Thursday's other showpiece game in South America sees Brazil take on Uruguay in Montevideo.

Brazil have transformed their qualifying campaign with six straight victories since new coach Tite took over last year following the Copa America Centenario debacle, where the five-time World Cup winners were eliminated in the group stage.

The Brazilians are now motoring towards qualification for Russia, four points clear at the top of the standings from second-placed Uruguay.

A seventh straight victory on Thursday will all but guarantee Brazil's place at the finals in Russia.

Tite's biggest headache will be attempting to find an adequate back-up to Manchester City starlet Gabriel Jesus, who is injured. Jesus proved to be the catalyst for Brazil's resurgence last year, scoring five goals in six games.

Though there is no obvious like-for-like replacement, Tite still has plenty of attacking options with a strike force led by Neymar.

Liverpool duo Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho could also provide attacking thrust.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez admitted he would have his hands full dealing with Neymar.

Asked how he planned to shackle the Brazil star, Tabarez replied: "If I had a formula I certainly wouldn't share it."

Uruguay also have a problem in attack with Barcelona star Luis Suarez suspended.

That is likely to mean that Edinson Cavani will shoulder the goalscoring threat for Uruguay with support from Diego Rolan.

Elsewhere Thursday, Ecuador will attempt to maintain their place in the automatic qualifying spots as they travel to Asuncion to face Paraguay.

Bottom team Venezuela host Peru.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a Croatian soccer shirt with the name "Putin" printed on the back on Sunday, hours before Croatia play France in the World Cup final in Moscow.

Croatia has been caught up in soccer fever after the Balkan nation of 4.2 million people swept aside more fancied opponents to reach its first ever World Cup final, which Russia is hosting this year.

Grabar-Kitarovic has, herself, entered into the spirit of the occasion, travelling to Russia to watch matches and dressing in the colours of the national flag. Croatia knocked Russia's team out of the competition in the quarter-finals.

At a Kremlin meeting, Putin congratulated the Croatian president on the Croatian team's performance.

"I'm sure we will see a beautiful game today," he said. Grabar-Kitarovic thanked Putin for what she said was the successful organisation of the competition.

Putin presented her with a bouquet of flowers, while she gave the Russian leader the Croatian national shirt.

You can’t ask for a better start to a World Cup as far as the first couple of days of Russia 2018 is concerned. The hosts got off to a dream start with a 5-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium on the opening day. The resounding victory of Stanislav Cherchesov’s boys injected that much-needed spark among the home fans, although not many Russian youths have yet decided to grow moustache like their coach. 

The next three games on the following day in three different cities in Russia were absolute crackers with Uruguay and Iran hitting last minute winners against Egypt and Morocco respectively. The third game of the day between Portugal and Spain was a six-goal thriller where Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hattrick to deny Spain a victory. 

Ronaldo’s free-kick with barely six minutes from the regulation time that enforced a 3-3 draw is so far the best goal from set pieces in the tournament. The magnificent Real Madrid striker made no mistake to pounce on a costly foul committed by Gerard Pique on the edge of the box against Ronaldo. Standing like a bull-fighter and taking a few heavy breaths, Ronaldo took a few steps before curling in a sublime floater from outside the Spanish wall and into the top-right corner that a hapless David de Gea, who had let Ronaldo’s second goal spill thought his legs, could only watch.  

Thirteen goals in four games is more than one could expect in modern-day football when space is limited with 11 players trying to prevent the other half to play. Many had considered even the opening game between Russia and Saudi Arabia not an ideal starter for the biggest show on earth. But the Russians with their high-pressing football and aerial dominance over a short-passing Saudis not only impressed the world audience, but also put behind the seven-game winless streak in a most spectacular fashion. The defeat is also a rude reminder for the oil-rich Saudi football bosses that too-much changing and chopping of coach never augers well for a team. 

Iran-Morocco game was entertaining with both teams creating chances before that 95th-minute header from Aziz Bouhaddouz into his own net cruelly ended the fate of the game. Uruguay, the two-time World Champions, were the better team against a Mohamed Salah-less Egypt. But all their efforts were bellowed like an accordion by a resolute Egypt defence with their goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy standing under the bar like a pyramid. He kept Luis Suarez and Co. at bay with some stunning saves until Uruguay defender Jose Gimenez hit the winner with a towering header in the 89th minute. 

El-Shenawy won the player of the match award. But he was forced to reject the traditional post-match reward -- as his religion forbids the consumption of alcohol. Budweiser are the official Fifa World Cup 2018 sponsors of the Man-of-the-match award -- presenting the game's best player with an artistic red goblet.   

The Portugal-Spain match lived up to its billing as one of the heavyweight first-round fixtures. Ronaldo also lived up to this reputation as one of the three superstars of this World Cup with a magnificent treble. It is now up to Argentina’s Leonel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar to unfold their magic. Messi will walk at the Spartak Stadium against Iceland to launch Argentina’s bid to win a World Cup. It also starts the World Cup for many Bangladesh fans loyal to Argentina. Messi scoring a hattrick or not, or Neymar following suits the next day against Switzerland, this World Cup has already promised plenty of goals and endless entertainment.