France vs Croatia World Cup final 2018: Why N'Golo Kante holds the key to stopping Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic

In the latest of his columns for The Independent, Frank de Boer previews the World Cup final and recalls his experiences of one

The French and Croatian players will know that they are on the brink of history heading into tomorrow’s World Cup final. But they must not think like that.

That is the key to playing a final. You cannot think about the history going into it. Only about the game itself. About your job, and the small details on the pitch, that will decide the game. How will it be different to play against a back four or a back three? Do you press just at the half-way line, or a little bit further up? Just those technical details, about what is going to be best to give your side the edge.

I remember going into the 2010 World Cup final with Holland against Spain, we would only stay focused on the technical details. Of course it was very hard, because Spain were such a good team. When you analysed them, they just had so many weapons. They were so good on the ball, their positional game was so fantastic. They were by far the best team in the world. So how do you punish a team like that? Can we press them? And where?

Going into that final, we were not playing the best, but we were mentally in very good shape. We were really a team, very compact, very focused. And we could have won that final. If Arjen Robben had scored than one-on-one against Iker Casillas. Or if we had taken another half-chance that fell to Wesley Sneijder. If you focus on the details, you might have a chance.

Eight years on, Didier Deschamps and Zlatko Dalic must know this. They must know that they cannot put too much into the heads of their players before Sunday evening. So that the players do not get distracted, thinking about the context, and the history, and all that.

Because afterwards, win or lose, there will more than enough time for all the players to reflect. ‘Oh s***, this was my moment to make history, for myself, my country and my family.’ I remember after I missed those two penalties in the semi-final of Euro 2000 against Italy. For three weeks afterwards, when I was alone with myself in my car, I would shout at myself. “F****** hell, how could you miss those two penalties?” It was painful, of course. But all that reflection can come after. For now, just keep their minds on the details.

(Getty Images (Getty Images)

And I have been very impressed by both France and Croatia over this World Cup, they clearly both deserve to be here in the final. Croatia are so mentally strong, to have come through extra-time three times and kept going.

But I think France are by far the favourites. I think the solidity of this France team, which we saw especially against Uruguay and Belgium, will make the difference on Sunday. They are solid, and they have weapons all the way through the team. Hugo Lloris has been in great shape all tournament. The two centre-backs have been fantastic, especially Raphael Varane. Obviously Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe look very good too.

But I want to talk about N’Golo Kante in the France midfield. I think he has been unbelievable so far in this World Cup. And I think he can secure the win for France on Sunday.

N'Golo Kante has made a quietly impressive start in Russia (AP)

As we saw on Wednesday night, the most important part of the Croatia team is the midfield. In the last hour of the England game, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic took control in midfield, as helped out by Marcelo Brozovic just behind them. I think Brozovic complimented Modric and Rakitic perfectly, was strong defensively and made good choices in possession too. Playing Brozovic as a defensive midfielder, instead of Andrej Kramaric as a number 10, was a great decision, allowing Modric and Rakitic to player further forward, where they could damage England.

But I think France can stop them in midfield. Why? Because Kante can stop everybody.

Kante works so hard, he always wins the ball, and so if Croatia have to be careful of him tomorrow. Remember that they went 1-0 down against England, they had a bad reaction after that, and that they had to come out and play in the second half.

But if Kante and Paul Pogba can stop them, with their physicality, then it will be very difficult for Croatia. I have been impressed with Pogba too so far this World Cup. In the last game he showed again the quality that we know him for at Juventus. I know that he has not had the best season with Manchester United, but here for France he has been playing for the team. That is a very good thing for him, he clearly understands that he has to do his best for the team. His level is growing.

N'Golo Kante will be pivotal to France's hopes of nullifying Croatia's midfield threat (EPA)

And while there has been some criticism of Deschamps in the past, I think this team has learned from the experience of losing the final of Euro 2016 to Portugal two years ago. They have taken energy and experience from that. And they have taken on some new players, like Mbappe, who were not there two years ago.

There is some criticism too for Deschamps because of his style of football, but remember, the winner is always right. He only ever thinks about picking the right team to win the game. Of course he could play more attractive football, but he takes his own decisions. He had the balls to leave Alexandre Lacazette and Karim Benzema at home. He has fought really carefully to build this team and pick the right players. As I have always said: players win games, but teams win prizes.