World Cup final 2018 LIVE France vs Croatia: France win the World Cup after six-goal thriller with Croatia - as it happened

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the World Cup final, which takes place in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium between France and Croatia.

With kick-off due for 16:00 BST, we'll have all the build-up and pre-match coverage you'll need from midday. 

But in the meantime, read what Independent columnist Frank de Boer has to say on his own experiences in the World Cup final and why he believes one man will have the biggest say on who lifts the trophy.

It's a bit like Christmas day morning, the wait is over and the biggest game in the footballing calendar awaits us this afternoon. For France many of these players experienced heartbreak at the Euro 2016 final and will know the weight of expectation on their shoulders, whilst for Croatia this is their biggest game EVER.

Miguel Delaney previews the biggest game in the footballing world.

Who can rise to be this year’s 1998 Zinedine Zidane, or fall to be 2006’s Zinedine Zidane; stride to be 1958 Pele, or stumble to be 1994 Roberto Baggio?

We have just under five hours away from kick off, so it's about time we take a look at some of the biggest stars on show.

Let's start with France, the favourites, and one of the most talented squads in the World Cup as a whole.

A front line of Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe offers the perfect mixture of strength, skill and speed. If the going gets tough against Croatia, Giroud could offer the unexpected threat of height against Dejan Lovren. - who called himself one of the best defenders in the world after the England game (I'll leave you to make your own jokes).

Griezmann and Mbappe are both in with an outside chance of the Golden Boot if they can get a hat-trick today, but make no mistake they would give up any individual glory to hold aloft the World Cup trophy this evening.

Next up for France is the midfield. Depending on Didier Deschamps team selection one member of that midfield may be up for grabs, but it's likely to fall to Blaise Matuidi - his hard work and box-to-box running have made him a favourite of Deschamps in a highly-talented squad.

But two names that are almost first on the team sheet for the French are Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante. The perfect mix of defensive guile and attacking flair, Jose Mourinho must be sat at home wishing Manchester United had bid a little bit harder for Kante when he left Leicester as a Premier League champion. 

For all Pogba's potential, on a stage crammed to the rafters with talent from all over the world, he has thrived without the constant spotlight of being the supposed star at United, and has fulfilled the talent that he has been promising for so long. Kante, by his side, allows him the freedom to roam forward on his long, galloping runs always providing a safety net for the defence behind him.

Then comes the defence. The emerging star of Benjamin Pavard has risen quite remarkably this tournament with solid defensive ability, and who could forget his goal against Argentina?

Lucas Hernandez has gone under the radar for the French but has performed admirably particularly when under pressure against Belgium.

But at the heart of France's back line are two of the most talented defenders in the world. Barcelona's Samuel Umtiti and Real Madrid's Raphael Varane are the fiercest of rivals in La Liga but have combined to display a reading of the game and temperament beyond their years, marred only by a bizarre Umtiti handball against Australia in the group stages.

Our reporter in Russia, Miguel Delaney is in prime position to give us all the insight into the action at the Luzhniki Stadium, not to mention getting his hands on a rather nice matchday programme...

Miguel also seems to have got himself Willy Wonka's golden ticket...

So we've had a look at where France are dangerous - and came to the conclusion that it's pretty much everywhere. For any Croatia fans joining us though, it's not all doom and gloom, there's plenty of talent in red and white too.

Manager, Zlatko Dalić, has been with the team for just nine months, and decided to take just two recognised strikers to Russia alongside less traditional forwards such as Andrej Kramaric. One of them, Mario Mandzukic, became all too familiar for England fans on Wednesday, scoring an extra time winner, and proving why he is one of the deadliest targetman in world football.

The other, Nikola Kalinic was sent home after refusing to play a substitute role in the group games. A penny for his thoughts as he watches his country play their first World Cup final as he watches from his sofa.

Here's Croatia's biggest threat - the midfield. As France have one defender from each of La Liga's big hitters in the heart of their defence, Croatia have the same in their midfield.

Real Madrid's Luka Modric has been the star for Croatia so far in this tournament, and has led his country from the front. Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic also has undeniable talent and has been one of the crucial cogs in their side over recent years, but was less than impressive against England and will need to improve this afternoon with the battle between Modric and Rakitic and Pogba and Kante likely to define the game as both nations look to release their attacking talent upfield.