Magical set pieces, high-speed counterattacking and plenty of VAR controversies - FIFA World Cup had it all

And so, it all ends. This was a frantic and mad World Cup, one that delivered much high drama, many high-octane games, never-ending twist and turns. Russia 2018 will compete with Brazil 2014 for the best-ever 32-team World Cup.

Fans from around the world lit up the tournament.

In 1998 France staged the first 32-team World Cup when the host Brazil and France squared off in the final. Zinedine Zidane propelled Les Bleus to a memorable 3-0 win as a blue move engulfed the Champs-Elysees and an entire nation. The newly expanded tournament had proven a success from the 24-team World Cup in the United States four years earlier.

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Throughout the World Cup’s history, the tournament has gradually grown - from 13 participants in 1930 to 16, 24, 32 and ultimately 48 from 2026 onwards when the United States, Mexico and Canada will jointly stage the quadrennial high mass of the global game. The latest expansion may be a stretch as the quality of matches on display may be diluted.

In Russia, the World Cup enchanted and enthralled. The tournament was gloriously unpredictable and a testimony to football as the ultimate chaos game, the sport of the endless variables. Kazan, became the graveyard of the greats as Germany, Argentina and Brazil all exited the tournament. The level playing field didn’t prevent France, a traditional powerhouse, from winning the ultimate prize with rigorous and disciplined, if not scarcely thrilling, football.

The World Cup featured the set pieces galore, high-speed counterattacking and plenty of VAR controversies. The four-week football festival had Kylian Mbappe as the breakout star, even though PSG had already acquired his services for an astronomical transfer season at the start of the season. He almost single-handedly destroyed Argentina and, at the age of 19, became the youngest scorer in the final and World Cup winner since Pele in 1958.

Then there were the fans. The South American supporters gave Russia 2018 a distinct Latin flavour as European opted to stay home, scared by media reports over hooliganism and racism by Russian football fans. All those fears proved unfounded as Russia put on a well-organised World Cup.

Croatians flocked in their thousands to the cavernous Luzhniki Stadium to back their team. The atmosphere was rambunctious, but it was not to be as the underdogs went down 4-2 in a final that both thrilling but lacking in true quality. For all the memorable moments, that is the question that remains about Russia 2018: how good was it all in earnest?