At the end of the World Cup that we thought had thrown everything it could at us, came the final that still boasted some surprises.

A game of own-goals, video-assisted penalties, pitch invaders, stunners and clangers ended with France victorious for the second time on the biggest stage and Croatia - gallant, heartbroken Croatia – out on their feet.

There were moments, periods even, when the Croatians were the better side in a topsy-turvy encounter that went off the rails pretty early and never dared to stray back to normalcy.

It was a finale that was set up for Kylian Mbappe to make this tournament his own, Luka Modric to get both hands on the Ballon d’Or or Hugo Lloris to state a claim as only the second-ever goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball.

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France beat Croatia to win World Cup and achieve football immortality

Fittingly for a World Cup where the unexpected has frequently crept up behind the most sane of predictions and pulled its trousers down, none of the above happened. Mbappe had a quiet game but scored the fourth French goal which looked to have sealed their glory. Moments later Lloris handed Mario Mandzukic and Croatia a lifeline with the most unthinkable of World Cup final errors and, in amongst all that, Modric played like a player who has played more minutes than any other player at the tournament – which might be one of the few logical things to have emerged from a bizarre final.

France’s win was logical, you’d suppose, but it never felt truly comfortable and then when it did, oh so briefly, it reverted to type again shortly afterwards.

Didier Deschamps came into this tournament with something to prove and even as the clock ticked down on a World Cup final in which his team were two goals ahead of their utterly broken, shattered rivals, it was never convincing. Fortunately for the France coach, the history books will only remember the winner, rather than the manner of victory, and it is impossible to think of a team that deserved to win the World Cup more than France even if they were, at times, uninspiring.

In Croatia they will doubtlessly fixate on how much closer they might have come had it not been for the officiating, which undoubtedly went against them at the Luzhniki. This wasn't a display of persistent ineptitude from Nestor Pitana by any stretch but it was a game where the big calls, those borderline ones that can mean everything, went in France's favour.

A proud nation will weep with pride and anger, a winding, turning journey that they hadn't expected supporting a team that never united the country but still set their sprits ablaze. You do not have to love someone for them to give you hope, and amid Modric's unpopularity and off-field issues back home he was their leader in this tournament, a genuinely world-class performer whose importance is no longer undersold.

France, though, are your champions. Our champions.

A team that conquered the world in what you could quite reasonably describe as the most logical way - by industrialising the process of creating the best possible talent. They focused on players, sourcing and nurturing and blending the most capable young players into a band of elite performers fit to be world champions. There were many left at home who could easily have been here and there are many watching on television who will be here in four years' time when France will once again be contenders. The World Cup runneth over.

Five things we learned as France beat Croatia 4-2 in World Cup final

Croatia in their own right are an incredible producer of talent but there is no formula, no long-term plan or significant finance behind their magical ability to conjure players from the sun-scorched shores of the Adriatic. Their return to this stage can be sketchily pencilled in for much further into the future, quite possibly when the generation inspired by this campaign mature into adults and look to create their own history.

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Les Bleus' conveyor belt is a factory, a process, a long-term plan that everyone is aspiring to recreate and one which suggests the next nation to win this trophy, possibly the next few, will come from the select group of nations that have the resources to create a critical mass of talent.

France are a logical winner, and not one you'd begrudge. But logic and football don't always see eye-to-eye, they rarely have over the past month and that is why they must enjoy this moment while it lasts, because for all the process and primacy, it may never come again.