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Sunday July 15 marked the end of 32 days of the world's biggest football celebration. France was crowned World champion after beating Croatia 4-2. The FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) met to decide the distribution of the FIFA 2018 awards prior to France lifting the much coveted trophy. Adidas Golden Ball: Luka Modric  adidas Golden Ball Award: 🥇Luka MODRIC ( #CRO ) 🥈Eden HAZARD ( #BEL ) 🥉Antoine GRIEZMANN ( #FRA ) #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/KQSRiwUznh — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2018 The Golden Ball, introduced in 1982, is arguably the most prestigious accolade of the tournament. Real Madrid and Croatia's superstar midfielder and captain, the most complete and consistent player of the tournament, served as the heart and soul of the Croatian team, tirelessly leading Croatia to its first World Cup final. Modric kept Croatia afloat in the first half of the semifinal game where they struggled against England. This supremely gifted No 10's t...

Luka Modric, the 32 year old Croatian midfielder has impressed football lovers a countless number of times, but his extraordinary performance at the World Cup further highlights what a special player he is. The five-foot-eight player is remarkably athletic in addition to his technical qualities, as he has covered a staggering 63km (39.1 miles) in this World Cup, and has played the most minutes - 604. Luka Modric is an excellent ball distributor who keeps the ball moving. Croatia's midfield general has been nominated (by FIFA) Man of the Match in three of Croatia's six World Cup games.  Former Brazil and Real Madrid star had the best to say about Luka Modric - Croatia's captain - ahead of the final to be played today between France and Croatia today. Kaka played alongside Modric for one season before leaving Real Madrid for AC Milan in 2013. Kaka told Omnisport,  "Luka [Modric] shows us that it's easy to play. Believe me it's really really hard to play ...

photo credit - Getty Images The FIFA 2018 has offered us the biggest shocks in the football world but divorces weren't among - at least until the month of July. A Russian couple ended their 16 year old marriage over an argument on who the better footballer is between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They fell in love when watching the 2002 World Cup - hosted by Korea/Japan - at a bar in 2002. The couple, only identified as Arsen and Lyudmila had a quarrel when the husband, Arsen celebrated Argentina's victory over the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Lionel Messi's La Albiceleste drew against Iceland in their first group stage game against Iceland, and lost to Iceland 0-3 in their second game. His wife Lyudmila kept insisting after the game that Ronaldo is better than Messi. Those words were unbearable to Arsen who decided to pack his things and leave. Leaving wasn't enough as Arsen reportedly filed for divorce the next morning in the courts of the city of ...

Andres Iniesta, the midfielder who gave La Roja the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final, has announced his retirement from international football following Spain's exit against Russia. This announcement came in as a confirmation as he had said in May that he would likely retire after the World Cup, later saying that he couldn't rule out a return. Iniesta's final kick for Spain was a goal against Russia at the penalty shootout in the last 16 game on Sunday. Host nation Russia took the day as Spain lost 4-3 in a dramatic penalty shootout.  Fernando Hierro, manager of Spain's national team described Iniesta as " one of the greatest players in our history ".  " The way he played on the pitch when he substituted on was like he was playing in his first cap and I want to thank him whole-heartedly ," he asserted. Iniesta played all 3 games of the group stage with Spain full time but came in as a replacement at the 67th minute in the knockout ga...

Fans called Cristiano "classy" for helping injured Edinson Cavani off the pitch as Uruguay defeated his team. Cavani went down in what seems to have been a hamstring injury 17 minutes before the final whistle. Another wing of Twitter users claim that the referee had to ask Ronaldo to help Cavani as he limped off. Cynics suggest he helped Cavani in order to save precious time for his losing side.    Cristiano Ronaldo, 33, raged at referee Cesar Arturo Ramos after Ricardo Quaresma was denied a free-quick for a perceived Uruguay foul in the last minutes of the Sochi game. Quaresma and Ronaldo confronted the Mexican official, who was unmoved by their rants. Viewers believe Ronaldo said "F**k you" to the referee. The referee gave Ronaldo his second yellow card of the tournament for verbally abusing the referee.   Uruguay held on to their 2-1 edge over Portugal till the final whistle of the match was blown. Two goals scored by Edinson Cavani - before and af...

Former Barcelona star and Argentina's most capped player Javier Mascherano, gave Lionel Messi some advice after announcing his retirement. Mascherano announced his retirement a few minutes after the final whistle of the match that saw "Les bleus" take down "La Albiceleste" 4-3 was blown. The thrilling game between Argentina and France in which France emerged victorious could potentially have been Messi's last World Cup appearance.  Lucas Biglia followed in Mascherano's footsteps and announced his retirement after the game. He said, " It's up to a lot of us to  take a step aside and allow fresh blood to come in. " He further added, " I don't know what the others will do. Another generation is coming through and I hope they can work in peace.   I gave it everything. You have to be honest with yourself. " Sergio Aguero won't be retiring from international football. " We'll keep working at our clubs and if som...

photo credit: BBC  La Albiceleste captain Lionel Messi, gave Argentina a lifeline with his 14th minute strike. It took him a while to get warmed up but he's back. Tuesday's must win clash saw a revived Argentina after their previous match struggles against Iceland and Croatia, with Messi rediscovering his best form. The Argentinian forward received a decisive pass from Ever Banega - Sevilla midfielder, with the ball falling right at Messi's feet. Messi handled the ball with three synchronized touches with three different parts of his body to score, delivering a thumping shot with his 'less active' right foot and finished past the Nigerian goalkeeper. photo credit: Getty and Reuters Nigeria was given an opportunity to equalize thanks to Maraschino's terrible mistake. He held Nigeria's Balogun at Nigeria's first corner in the 2nd half of the game, earning Nigeria a penalty. Victor Moses calmly beat Argentina's debutante goalke...

It's finally World Cup 2018! 32 teams categorized into 8 groups are in for 65 matches, to be played in 12 venues.  ·         Group A teams are: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. ·         Group B teams are: Portugal, Spain, Iran and Morocco. ·         Group C teams are: France, Peru, Denmark and Australia. ·         Group D teams are: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland and Nigeria. ·         Group E teams are: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia. ·         Group F teams are: Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. ·         Group G teams are: Belgium, England, Tunisia and Panama. ·         Group H teams are: Poland, Colombia, Senegal and Japan. This is the full schedule for t...