Sky is the limit for Mbappe

The World Cup final between France and Croatia on Sunday was briefly interrupted when three intruders affiliated to anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot ran onto the pitch before being hauled off by stewards.

The pitch invaders, who were dressed in police-style outfits, were later detained by police, one of them told Reuters by telephone from a police station near Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, venue for the match.

In a post on its Facebook page, the group said its action was intended to draw attention to what it said were human rights abuses in Russia.

Three of Pussy Riot's original members were jailed in 2012 for staging a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin in a church and the group have since become a symbol of anti-Kremlin direct action.

In the second half of Sunday's match, the three people wearing white shirts with police-style epaulettes, black trousers and police hats ran out onto the pitch from the area behind the French goal. A fourth person tried to run onto the pitch but was tackled on the sidelines.

The three ran about 50 metres, dispersing in different directions, before stewards wearing high-visibility jackets tackled them to the ground and dragged them off the pitch.

One photograph on social media showed one of the pitch invaders, a woman with blonde hair tucked under a police cap, performing a high-five with France player Kylian Mbappe before being caught.

The match, watched from the stands by Putin and the French and Croatian presidents, was halted, but resumed about 25 seconds later. A witness at the stadium said he had seen police escorting the pitch invaders out of the stadium grounds.

The pitch invasion was the first significant security lapse in the five-week tournament that has won hosts Russia widespread praise for their good organisation and efficiency.

Pussy Riot member Olga Kurachyova told Reuters she was one of the pitch invaders and was being held at Luzhniki police station. She said she could not speak further because police were trying to take her mobile phone away from her.

Moscow police said in a statement that three young women and a young man had been detained after running onto the pitch.

LIST OF DEMANDS

In its Facebook post, Pussy Riot complained of rights abuses in Russia. They alluded to Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker jailed for 20 years in 2015 for setting fire to two offices in Crimea, including one belonging to Russia's ruling party, after Moscow annexed the region from Ukraine.

Pussy Riot said their demands included freeing political prisoners in Russia, freedom of speech on the internet, freedom to protest, and allowing political competition.

The group shared a video on social media recorded before the incident featuring three female activists, at least two of whom were among those detained. They wore police uniforms and one of them wore a pink balaclava.

"The World Cup has shown wonderfully what the police can be like in Russia, but what will happen afterwards?" one of the activists asked in the video, an apparent allusion to lenient policing noted by Russians during the tournament.

A separate video posted on social media appeared to show the moments after the pitch invaders had been detained.

Two of them, a man and a woman, could be seen standing in a room, dressed in dishevelled police uniforms, while a voice off camera demanded handcuffs be brought.

"Do you know that Russia will pay for this to FIFA through sanctions?" the off-camera voice said, in an angry tone. "You wanted to shit on Russia, didn’t you?"

"We are for Russia," the male detainee replied.

"Sometimes I regret that it's not 1937," the person off- camera in the video said. That year was the height of political repressions carried out by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Photographs of the pitch invasion suggested the pitch invaders did not include the three Pussy Riot members who were jailed in 2012 for performing in the church.

Russian news website MediaZona, co-founded by one of the original three Pussy Riot members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, reported that one of the pitch invaders was Pyotr Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband.

France captain Kylian Mbappe has been left out of his team's UEFA Nations League matches this month after coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday named his squad.

The Real Madrid star returned from a short spell on the sidelines, with a thigh injury, to appear as a substitute in the surprise 1-0 defeat at Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday.

However, the 25-year-old will play no part in France's games against Israel and Belgium, a decision clearly made in order to allow Mbappe to rest and work on his fitness.

France play Israel on Thursday, October 10 in an away fixture moved to Budapest due to the security situation in the Middle East.

Les Bleus, Nations League winners in 2021, will then take on Belgium in Brussels on Monday, October 14.

France have three points after their first two outings in Group A2, which is topped by Italy with six points.

Thursday's squad announcement was the first by Deschamps since vice-captain Antoine Griezmann retired from international football at the beginning of this week.

Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku, who won the last of his 10 caps in June last year, returns to the squad.

France squad

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (West Ham United/ENG), Mike Maignan (AC Milan/ITA), Brice Samba (Lens)

Defenders: Jonathan Clauss (Nice), Lucas Digne (Aston Villa/ENG), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea/ENG), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan/ITA), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool/ENG), Jules Kounde (Barcelona/ESP), William Saliba (Arsenal/ENG), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich/GER)

Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid/ESP), Youssouf Fofana (AC Milan/ITA), Matteo Guendouzi (Lazio/ITA), Manu Kone (Roma/ITA), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid/ESP), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)

Forwards: Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani (all Paris Saint-Germain), Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea/ENG), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich/GER), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan/ITA)

Croatia captain Luka Modric beat competition from the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Eden Hazard to win the golden ball as the best player in the World Cup even as his side lost the final of the showpiece event 4-2 against France.

Modric scored two goals in the group stage and converted both of his attempts in penalty shootouts to help Croatia reach the final. Belgium talisman and captain Hazard, who had been in blazing form throughout this campaign, scoring three goals, was awarded the silver ball while French forward Antoine Griezmann was handed the bronze ball.

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was given the golden glove award for his three clean-sheets, conceeding six goals in seven matches with some excellent saves against Brazil being his showcase performance.

Rain poured down in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow as Modic embraced Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic after being given the award by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Russia President Vladimir Putin.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said: “He played a terrific tournament which is another commendation for the team which helped to bring about Luka's success. He did the lion share of our play and he was a deserved winner of the Golden Ball.”

Croatia had shown great fight in the first half before a Griezmann penalty handed France the lead again in the second half before they added two more goals.

France's 19-year-old star Kylian Mbappe was named the tournament's Best Young Player after scoring Les Bleus' fourth goal on Sunday, becoming the youngest since Pele in 1958 to find the net in the final.

England captain Harry Kane was confirmed as the Golden Boot winner, his six goals outpacing the four of Griezmann while Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku was named the Bronze boot winner.

While Mbappe, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Russia’s Denis Cheryshev also scored four goals in the competition, but Griezmann bagged two assists while Lukaku had one, which decided their higher ranking in the top-scorers’ list.

Ivan Rakitic is hoping this Croatia team can go a step further after matching the country’s heroes of 1998 by making it to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Barcelona midfielder Rakitic scored the decisive spot-kick as Croatia beat Russia 4-3 on penalties after a dramatic quarter-final in Sochi on Saturday finished 2-2 at the end of extra-time.

“We worked so hard and gave everything we had to get through to the semis. I think for a country like Croatia it is impressive and we want to keep going further,” said Rakitic.

“We want to enjoy this victory and not put more pressure on ourselves with what happened in 1998 -- what they did was impressive but we want to keep writing our own history and enjoy what we are doing which is very positive.”

Croatia will play England in the last four in Moscow on Wednesday, as they aim to outdo the team of 20 years ago. Back then they lost to hosts France in the last four.

“I hope we can outdo them. Their generation are more than heroes for us,” added Rakitic.

Croatia came from behind in Sochi with Andrej Kramaric cancelling out Denis Cheryshev’s opener as the tie ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.

Domagoj Vida then headed Zlatko Dalic’s side in front in extra time, only for Mario Fernandes to make it 2-2 in the 115th minute.

However, Rakitic ensured that Croatia prevailed in the shoot-out, their second in a row after beating Denmark on penalties in the last round.

They must recover quickly from a draining night before facing England, who were 2-0 winners over Sweden earlier on Saturday.

“We enjoy playing against big teams as we showed against Argentina,” insisted defender Dejan Lovren.

“England are one of the favourites to win the World Cup and you need to respect that, but we have nothing to lose. We will enjoy this game and hopefully we can make history.”

Lovren added that he was confident right-back Sime Vrsaljko would recover from the muscle injury that forced him off in extra-time against Russia.

Kylian Mbappe is hoping his recent move to Real Madrid will take his already glittering career on the pitch to new heights, but the French superstar has become embroiled in off-field difficulties in recent months.

In an ideal world, the 25-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain striker would have been able to focus fully on settling in Madrid after he moved to the Spanish capital on a five-year deal during the summer just finished.

Instead, as well as being hampered by fitness problems, Mbappe has been locked in a bitter financial dispute with his old club and is now cited as the suspect in a rape investigation according to reports in Sweden.

Mbappe has dismissed those reports as "fake news" and is hoping to win his battle with PSG over what he claims amounts to 55 million euros ($60m) in unpaid wages and bonuses from last season.

Nevertheless, the negative headlines are a blow to the player's image and remove some of the aura around a young man who has become an icon in his home country and is a global sporting superstar.

When Mbappe emerged as a teenager at Monaco almost a decade ago, he stood out because of his precocious talent but also thanks to his remarkable communication skills.

Rather than being fazed by the media spotlight, Mbappe was clearly at ease in front of the cameras and spoke with the maturity and assurance of someone considerably older.

He was a World Cup winner at 19 and went on to become the all-time top scorer at PSG, the local club of the boy from Bondy in the Paris suburbs.

Committed captain? 

In March 2023, a few months after scoring a stunning hat-trick in France's World Cup final defeat by Lionel Messi's Argentina, he was named captain of the national team by coach Didier Deschamps.

That seemed a natural choice given his status in the team and in the country in general, but his position as skipper meant the decision to rest him for France's UEFA Nations League matches this month was controversial.

Mbappe had picked up a thigh injury in late September, a minor problem but one that suggested giving him a break would be beneficial in the long run.

"We need to put the player's interests first, without putting him into difficulty," Deschamps said of that decision, referring to Mbappe's relationship with his new club.

But as France's sporting press debated whether Mbappe's temporary absence from the squad was justified or a sign of a lack of commitment to the French cause, the player himself travelled to Stockholm for a short break with members of his entourage.

Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen, and public broadcaster SVT, have since reported that he is under investigation for rape, after an alleged incident in a hotel on October 10.

A Swedish prosecutor confirmed on Tuesday that a rape investigation had been opened but did not mention Mbappe's name.

Changing attitudes 

Meanwhile Mbappe, whose career is managed by his mother Fayza Lamari, has taken his financial row with PSG to a French league committee.

He is trying to recover 55 million euros comprised of several months' unpaid wages and a signing-on fee, money PSG claimed he agreed to waive if he departed for free at the end of last season.

Mbappe even intimated on Monday that there was a link between the rape report and the wrangle with his old team, where he spent seven years.

"It's becoming so predictable, on the eve of the hearing, as if by chance," he wrote on X on Monday.

His unhappy divorce from PSG, which saw him left out of the team on numerous occasions in the second half of last season after he announced his intention to leave, surely contributed to a disappointing European Championship with France.

Mbappe suffered a broken nose in France's opening game at Euro 2024 in June and only scored one goal, a penalty in a group-stage draw with Poland, before Les Bleus lost in the semi-finals.

He looked some way short of peak physical form and is taking his time to settle in Madrid, even if he has seven goals in his first 11 appearances.

One recent moment seemed to capture the change in attitude towards Mbappe in his home country, as he was loudly booed by Lille supporters when introduced as a substitute for Real in a Champions League game earlier this month.

Such a welcome for an opposition player may not be unusual, but it contrasted sharply with the acclaim with which he was received around France in the aftermath of the last World Cup.