France and Croatia are being confronted with all kind of good omens for why each one of them will win the World Cup final on Sunday.
French sports daily L'Equipe on Friday came up with nine reasons why Les Bleus will lift the trophy again after a first title in 1998.
They included quite obscure facts, such as a German driver winning the British Formula One Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher won the race 20 years ago; this time around Sebastian Vettel was first last weekend.
The paper also said that just as in 1998 one French player was under contract at Bayern Munich - Bixente Lizarazu then, and Corentin Tolisso now; and that Real Madrid won the Champions League in 1998 and 2018.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic was meanwhile confronted with the fact that a new world champion has been crowned every 20 years since 1958 - suggesting it was Croatia's turn now after Brazil won its first title in 1958, Argentina in 1978 and France in 1998.
But the coach would have none of it, saying: "I don't believe in stats and patterns and figures but only in what I do."
The Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow is illuminated on Thursday prior to the World Cup final between France and Croatia.
