Croatia’s Luka Modric, right, vies for the ball with France’s Blaise Matuidi, left, during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
France fans cheer during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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France soccer fans cheer before the start of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Croatia’s Domagoj Vida, left, and France’s Antoine Griezmann challenge for the ball during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
France’s Blaise Matuidi, center left, and Croatia’s Ante Rebic challenge for the ball during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
France’s Paul Pogba, right, scores his side’s third goal during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
France’s Paul Pogba celebrates after scoring his side’s third goal during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
France’s Paul Pogba celebrates after scoring his side’s third goal during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Croatia’s Luka Modric, left, vies for the ball with France’s Blaise Matuidi, right, during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
France’s Kylian Mbappe scores his side’s fourth goal during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
France’s Olivier Giroud, right, head the ball away from Croatia’s Ivan Rakitic during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
France’s Antoine Griezmann fights for the ball with Croatia’s Luka Modric, right, during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Croatia fans follow the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
France’s Raphael Varane, left, plays the ball challenged by Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Croatia’s Dejan Lovren, France’s Paul Pogba, Croatia’s Ivan Perisic, and France’s Raphael Varane, from left to right, challenge for the ball during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Stewards pull a woman off the pitch after she stormed onto the field and interrupted the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
French players throw France head coach Didier Deschamps into the air celebrating at the end of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
France’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his sides 4th goal of the game during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A steward runs after two people that invaded the pitch during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
France’s Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez celebrate after the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. France won the final 4-2. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
France’s Olivier Giroud, left, and his teammates celebrate at the end of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
France’s Paul Pogba, right, celebrates at the end of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. France won 4-2. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
France’s Paul Pogba celebrates with fans after winning 4-2 during the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic cries at the end of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
France’s Paul Pogba celebrates at the end of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. France won 4-2. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
MOSCOW — With Vladimir Putin watching from the stands, France won its second World Cup title in a match that was interrupted by an on-field protest during the second half that Russian punk band Pussy Riot later took credit for.
Nineteen-year-old Kylian Mbappe became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final, helping France beat Croatia 4-2 on Sunday.
Mbappe had just shown his electrifying speed in the 52nd minute when play was held up by four protesters. About 12 minutes after play resumed, Mbappe sent a right-footed shot past Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.
The last teenager to score in a World Cup final was Pele, who scored two when Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 in 1958.
Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann, France’s two other key players, also scored at the Luzhniki Stadium.
But it was Mbappe and Pogba who put the match out of reach with a furious passage of play interrupted by a four-person field invasion by Pussy Riot — watched from the VIP seats by Putin, whose government once jailed members of the activist group.
Griezmann scored from the penalty in the 38th minute after a video review. About four minutes after his corner kick was knocked out, the referee ruled Ivan Perisic had handled the ball on the way.
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France took the lead in the 18th when Croatia’s tallest outfield player, 1.90-meter (6-foot-3) forward Mario Mandzukic, rose to meet Griezmann’s free kick with the top of his head. He inadvertently sent it past his own goalkeeper.
Perisic and Mandzukic both scored for Croatia.
Mbappe was born months after France first won the World Cup in 1998.
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