France were crowned world champions for the second time on Sunday afternoon after defeating Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final.

Didier Deschamps’ side led 2-1 at half-time thanks to a Mario Mandzukic own goal and an Antoine Griezmann penalty, while Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe finished the job in the second 45 minutes.

The images of France’s heroes were beamed onto the Arc de Triomphe in front of thousands of jubilant fans on Sunday night; scenes which brought back memories of Les Bleus’ first World Cup triumph back in 1998.

Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly and Deschamps are now joined by a new group of Frenchmen who have cemented their status as legends.

The achievements of Griezmann, Mbappe, Pogba and co. will also never be forgotten.

France are worthy World Cup winners, having beaten Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium en route to the final.

Deschamps’ men didn’t always play pretty football - barring their excellent performance against Argentina in the Round of 16 - but they had a very effective style of play which opposition teams struggled to deal with.

Pogba's powerful pre-match speech to teammates

Scoring four goals in the final, however, was the perfect response to those who have accused France of being negative at this summer’s showpiece international tournament.

Pogba scored his national team’s third goal of the night and the Manchester United midfielder revealed after the full-time whistle that he said a few words to his teammates inside the dressing room before kick-off.

“I told everyone before the game, 'We are 90 minutes away from realising our dream, we are 90 minutes from entering into history books for life, and we were 90 minutes away from making France rock — even children, and their children, will know about this,” Pogba was quoted as saying by the Mirror.

“So guys, we can do this. There are two teams and a Cup and we are not going to let another team take this Cup.”

Can Pogba now become a bigger leader for Man Utd?

Powerful words from the 25-year-old, who must command huge respect from his teammates to deliver such a rousing speech before the biggest game of their lives.

United fans will now be hoping Pogba can show similar leadership at Old Trafford this coming season.

The £89.3 million man will return to Manchester as a world champion and, after seeing what he’s achieved over the past four weeks, fans will now expect Jose Mourinho to get the best out of him.

Will Paul Pogba be a contender for Premier League Player of the Year next season? Have your say below.