Time to wrap up here, but there will be more reaction and analysis to come throughout the evening – and join us again tomorrow for our live blog, as we wave the World Cup goodbye. It’s going to be a tough week, isn’t it?

For now, thanks for joining Will, Barry and I, and congratulations to France, the worthy winners of a fantastic tournament. See you all in Qatar. Au revoir!

“The final was a tale of two games,” writes Kári Tulinius. “One had two good teams duking it out, with three beautiful goals. The other was the weirdest game of football I have ever seen, featuring pitch invaders, VAR, Mandzukic scoring at both ends, and world leaders in a downpour of rain and glitter. Mind you, France won both 2-1.”

David Wall nominates Nacer Chadli and Kevin De Bruyne for goal of the tournament: “both goals were the result of controlled, devastatingly incisive, length of the pitch attacks, and were decisive in their respective games.”

A quick reminder that if you’ve enjoyed our coverage of this epic World Cup, from our Experts’ Network through to live blogs, match reports and analysis, you can contribute here:

In news that will surprise nobody, Kylian Mbappé has been voted young player of the tournament. The 19-year-old forward became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pelé, and the Brazilian legend has had his say. I can’t help but feel that, at 77, he may have lost half a yard of pace by now.

Just as Diana Ross opened USA 94, Olivier Giroud has closed Russia 18:

And there’s plenty of time to submit your own player ratings:

Player ratings! Our football editor has made Antoine Griezmann his man of the match…

…but Griezmann is being edged out by Kylian Mbappé in your ratings so far:

A decent shout. The fears that Russia would embarrass themselves on the pitch in this tournament proved entirely unfounded.

More reaction from the Luzhniki Stadium now, from Martha Kelner and Shaun Walker:

What of today’s losing finalists? Croatia’s manager, Zlatko Dalic, was sanguine in defeat but felt aggrieved by France’s VAR-awarded penalty.

“I never comment on refereeing … but let me say one sentence. In a World Cup final you do not give such a penalty. That in no way diminishes France’s win but maybe we were a bit unlucky. The first six games we may have been favoured by luck, today not.

“I respect the ref. He did what he saw, fair and square. I never meant to be negative. With VAR when it is in your favour it is [good], when it isn’t, it’s bad. That’s all I have to say about that. VAR is a good thing for football.”

Antoine Griezmann has spoken of his pride of winning the World Cup as part of a multicultural French team:

“That’s the France we love. They are different origins but we are all united. It’s the same in our team, there are many players who come from different horizons but we do have the same state of mind.

We all play for the same jersey, for the cockerel, for our country, as soon as you wear the jersey you do everything for each other and it’s beautiful.”

Another debate for you: what was the goal of the tournament? Here are a few of the obvious contenders, but feel free to suggest your own.

More scènes absolues from France, where Paris is celebrating wildly:

And here’s Emmanuel Macron dabbing with Pogba in the France dressing room. It’s embarrassing, but surely better than Theresa May flossing:

I’m loath to talk about England at a time like this, but Gareth Southgate has made some interesting comments on his return from Russia, calling for Premier League clubs to give more game time to English youngsters:

“I was given an opportunity here to blood younger players in this tournament and they have proved that they could perform. Club managers need that time [but] you have got to be brave enough to take those decisions.

“Some players we took – I’m thinking particularly of Pickford, Maguire, Trippier – they come back better players, more rounded individuals. I think we’ve got the basis of a really good team, and we’ve got some young players coming through. It’s got to become more difficult to get into the senior squad.”

Southgate also hinted that some of his squad may look to retire from the international game. No more than idle speculation on my part, but there are only three players in his squad over 30 – Gary Cahill, Ashley Young and Jamie Vardy.

Way, way back in the mists of early June, when your sticker album was half-full and you still fancied Egypt as dark horses, we gave you the chance to pick your all-time France XI. And here it is:

Antoine Griezmann made the cut, but would any of his 2018 team-mates be in the team now?

Sticking with goalkeepers, and Thibaut Courtois has been named the best goalkeeper of the tournament. He can add another zero to that new Chelsea contract he’s after.

“The Lloris brain-freeze is just the latest in a series of memorable goalie clangers at this tournament,” says Peter Oh. “De Gea’s butter fingers, Kawashima’s finger wag, Caballero’s chip fail, Neuer’s disappearing act, Muslera’s Karius imitation.”

It’s not been a great month for the goalkeepers’ union, it’s true.

Here’s some words from Didier Deschamps, who has become only the second man to lift the World Cup as a captain and manager, after Franz Beckenbauer.

“How marvellous! It’s a young team, who are on the top of the world. Some are champions at the age of 19. We did not play a huge game but we showed mental quality. And we scored four goals anyway. They deserved to win.”

“The group worked so hard and we had some tough moments along the way. It hurt so much to lose the Euros two years ago, but it made us learn too. The win is not about me, it’s the players who won the game.

“For 55 days, we have done a lot of work. It is the supreme coronation. We are proud to be French, to be Blues. The victory in the match belongs to them. Vive le Republic.

“How did France win, when Croatia had the world’s best defender in their team?” honks Woollie Madden. “It almost seems like France’s forward line was motivated by Dejan Lovren’s lack of respect.”

How did the final compare to previous editions? It’s being touted as the best ever, which is a big call given it only finished an hour ago. It’s surely one of the most entertaining, though – with six goals, it had as many as the last four finals put together.

Look who’s decided to stick his oar in:

Here’s a terrific snap of Emmanuel Macron celebrating a France goal in the stands. For more of the best images from the World Cup final and beyond, check out our gallery and follow us on Instagram.

Merci Barry. Well, that wasn’t bad, was it? We’ll have more reaction and analysis to France’s 4-2 win – plus there’s plenty of time to reflect on what’s been a remarkable tournament.

Don’t touch that dial. I’m off to record the final podcast of the World Cup, which you’ll be able to download later. Niall McVeigh will be taking over here to bring you reaction and post-match comment.

France go up to collect their World Cup winners’ medals. In a downpour of biblical proportions, the players of France file past their presentation party, receiving the congratulations of their own president and Croatia’s. Standing there in her Croatia shirt and white trousers, Kolinda is soaked to the skin and doesn’t seem a bit perturbed.

Croatia collect their runners-up medals. The heavens open as Croatia’s players enjoy a guard of honour from their French conquerers and go up to receive their losers’ medals. It is hammering down with rain and there aren’t too many umbrellas on that podium.

Nestor Pitana collects his commemorative medal. The referee and his team of officials are booed by Croatia’s fans as they receive their medals from a presentation party that includes Fifa president Gianni Infantino, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and France president Emmanuel Macron.

Harry Kane wins the Golden Boot for top scorer, while Thibaut Courtois wins the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper. Neither are present to pick up their awards.

Luka Modric of Croatia wins the Player of the Tournament award.

Kylian Mbappe wins the Young Player of the Tournament award. That’s no big surprise. I know what I was doing when I was 19 and it wasn’t scoring goals in World Cup finals.

Presentation ahoy!!! After a long delay, the World Cup trophy is once again brought out on to the pitch, where a stage has been erected, by the former Germany international Philipp Lahm.

Harry Kane wins the Golden Boot: What with Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann having to make do with just one goal each in this final, England striker Harry Kane has won the Golden Boot for being the competition’s top scorer, with six, despite drawing a blank in England’s past three games.

More on that second half pitch invasion …

Assorted memebrs of Pussy Riot invaded the pitch early in the second half, saying in a statement that it was “cool here” on the pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium. Having seen them being carried off the pitch by security goons, I can’t help but wonder how “cool” it is in their current lodgings, wherever they might be. Here’s Shaun Walker with the latest …

Goals! Goals! Goals! It was high-scoring for a World Cup final, with six goals in total. One was an own goal, one came from a highly ducious penalty and a third came on the back of a hideous goalkeeping rick. The other three, scored by Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Ivan Perisic were quite outstanding and fit to grace any World Cup final.

90+3 min: Sime Vrsalko is booked for a desperate foul on Antoine Griezmann. From the free-kick, the ball’s played in to the penalty area, where Paul Pogba takes his eye off it and mis-kicks completely when scoring looked easier.

90+2 min: Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba attack down the right flank on the break. Paul Pogba tries to be too elaborate and squanders possession.

90+1 min: The game enters its knockings as the fourth official holds up the board. There’ll be five minutes of added time for Croatia to pull off an escape that would be little short of miraculous.

90 min: Brozovic concedes a free-kick and kicks the ball away in frustration. He avoids a yellow card, not that he’ll care particularly.

88 min: Kramaric and Vida combine down the left flank in a move that ends with Ivan Rakitic on the ball, shooting from distance only to send his effort high and wide.

87 min: France win a free-kick and taske it v-e-r-y, v-e-r-y, s-l-o-w-l-y, as you’d expect. Time is running out for Croatia, whose commendable resilience looks set to go unrewarded.

85 min: Pjaca skips and shimmies down the right flank, foxing Lucas Hernandez with a couple of stepovers. He tries to pick out Sime Vrsalko, but the Croatia right-back isn’t on the same wavelength as his team-mate and a promising move breaks down.

83 min: Free-kick for Croatia, wide on the left. Ivan Rakitic swings the ball into the penalty area, where Hugo Lloris plucks it from the sky.

82 min: Croatia substitution: Ivan Strinic off, Marko Pjaca. France substitution: Olivier Giroud off, Nabil Fekir on.

80 min: What with all the excitement since the interval, I haven’t got around to mentioning the pitch invasion that took place at the beginning of the second half. Luckily, our man Shaun Walker in Moscow has all the skinny.

“The Russian protest performance group Pussy Riot have claimed responsibility for a pitch invasion early in the second half at the game. ‘Right now, there are four members of Pussy Riot on the pitch,’ the group wrote on its Facebook page. It said the pitch invasion had been a protest with demands including:

1. Free political prisoners

2. Do not put people in jail for social media “likes”

3. Stop illegal detentions at political rallies

4. Allow political competition in Russia

5. Do not fabricate criminal cases and detain people for no reason

Pussy Riot gained notoriety for a protest inside Moscow’s biggest cathedral in 2012, for which three participants were arrested and jailed for varying lengths of time. Since then, the three women who were put on trial have separated, with two of them – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina – still appearing separately using the Pussy Riot name. It was unclear whether either of them were involved on Sunday.

On Twitter, the group’s account said it would post photographs and video very soon. “Hi everyone from the pitch at Luzhniki, it’s cool here,” the tweet read.

78 min: Close for Croatia, as a wonderful move ends with a low, diagonal Ivan Rakitic shot being deflected narrowly wide of the far upright by Steven Nzonzi. Referee Nestor Pitana awards a goal-kick, having failed to spot the nick off the French substitute.

75 min: Croatia substitution: Andre Kramaric on for Ante Rebic. France substitution: Corentin Tolisso on for Blaise Matuidi.

69 min: Apparently oblivious to the fact that Mario Mandzukic is bearing down on him, Hugo Lloris attempts to field a backpass from Olivier Giroud. He takes one touch, then another before opting to pass the ball back to Giroud, or perhaps Paul Pogba.

As he does so, Super Mario intercepts and slots the ball into the empty net from about four yards out. The Croatia striker is quick to retrieve the ball from the net and place it back on the spot for kick-off as the camera focusses on the ashen-faced France goalkeeper. Somewhere on Merseyside, Loris Karius is offering up a silent prayer of thanks.

67 min: For all Croatia’s pluck, this World Cup final is turning into a procession for France, whose coronation as World Champions now looks a formality. Kylian Mbappe takes possession of the ball 25 yards from goal, gives a little shimmy and sends a low drive fizzing past both Domagoj Vida and then Danijel Subasic into the bottom left-hand corner.

63 min: France went close to putting the game completely beyond Croatia not long after scoring their third. Olivier Giroud tried a rather ambitious overhead kick that was heading towards Antoine Griezmann, completely unmarked at the far post. It took a crucial interception by Marcelo Brozovic to prevent France from going 4-1 up.

61 min: That was a great goal by Pogba, albeit a tiny bit fortuitous. He charged upfield and laid the ball off to Mbappe. He played the return pass to Pogba a couple of yards outside the penalty area and his shot towards the bottom right -hand corner was blocked. He gets a second bite of the cherry and with Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic wrongfooted, steers the ball into the bottom left-hand corner with his weaker left foot. Who is this fine player and is he in any way related to the facsimile of himself we saw playing for Manchester United more often than not last season?