The football world will always remember the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final. French football fans came out in large numbers as their team beat Croatia in the final match of the world cup. France regained the title after 20 years as they won last time in 1998. Initially, the French team entered the world cup as dark horses but with every game their style of play became impeccable.
France who beat Croatia by 4-2 in the final, started its world cup campaign against Australia. Emmanuel Macron, the president of France also reached Russia to watch his team playing in the final. During the match, the president looked excited and jubilant. Macron was spotted jumping in his view box several times during the match.
This amazing photo of Emmanuel Macron was the work of Alexei Nikolsky of TASS news agency. Credit where it's due – it's a superb capture. #WorldCupFinal pic.twitter.com/1vgTfi6dOr
— Alistair Coleman (@alistaircoleman) July 15, 2018
After the victory, French supporters from all the walks of life gathered on the streets to celebrate the World Cup victory. Another thing that was intrigued by the French victory was patriotism among the supporters as everyone was singing “La Marseillaise”.
Even though they were face some issues, the fans came out in large numbers to show their love for the country.
The win was celebrated as the whole team took a ride in an open bus in a homecoming parade. During the parade, the players waved at the fans and showed them the world cup trophy. The whole parade was flooded with white, blue and red as there were French flags everywhere.
People from Paris and many other cities gathered and sang national anthem holding flags in their hands. It was reported that almost 1 million French supporters gathered at Champs Élysées when the final whistle blew on Sunday night.
People in the cars kept waving flags on Sunday and Monday. Moussa Sissoko also attended the team with his kids and said that there is no better opportunity for his kids to learn about their role models.
French won the last world cup in 1998 when Zinedine Zidane’s diversity proved vital. At that time the French nation was suffering from the discrimination issues as the team was labeled as Arab, black and white.
While giving an interview, Daphné Bada 18 who joined the parade from a suburban town in the banlieue said that the only reason that no one is talking about the age, color and caste differences is that football team that has gathered people from all areas to one point. Celebrating the world cup victory like this is a historic moment for all of us, the university student further added.
Another citizen named Eric who brought his two sons to the celebration, said that they are all proud of being French. The 45-year-old is a health officer in Northern France. The French president hosted the team at his palace. While commenting on the French victory, the president said that all these kids allowed the 66 million French people to dream. He further said that the players are role models and examples for us and for our next generation.
Not everything was up to the expectations after the French win as police arrested 292 people when a number of people threw stones on the Champs Élysées. After that police reacted with the water cannon attack.
There was a touch of class from the president Macron as he invited a couple of young footballers from poorer suburbs at the reception ceremony of the French football team. This was very beautiful, as many of the French national team players started playing football from poorer suburbs of Paris.
Addressing the team, the president told them to never forget where they were from, pointing to the young footballers and volunteers.
Several bus stations changed their names temporarily to honor the national team. Victor Hugo station changed its name to Victor Hugo Lloris after the name of the French goalkeeper and captain, Hugo Lloris. Champs-Élysées Clemenceau changed its name to Deschamps-Élysées Clemenceau.