As a fantastic World Cup starts to wrap up, there are a few talking points that should be touched upon before they are lost in the fray of the final.

Rise of the Machines

Russia 2018 is the first FIFA World Cup to make use of a Video Assistant Referee system (VAR). After being trialed in several European leagues and cups last season, VAR was unanimously approved for this World Cup by FIFA in March. The VAR system works in the following way: a team of referees sit in a room away from the stadium in which the game is played, to ensure that they are not influenced by fans in the stands. The video referees watch and review plays to ensure that the referee on the pitch has made the correct decision, and can only intervene in the case of "clear and obvious error" in the following four areas:

Goals: VAR is used to check for offside or fouls committed by the attacking team when a goal is scored.
Penalties: VAR can award or rescind penalties during the game.
Straight red cards: Incidents that may be worthy of red cards will be reviewed by the video referees.
Mistaken identity: The video referees will intervene in the event that a referee penalises the wrong player. It happens. It's even happened at the World Cup.

The World Cup is rarely without controversy, and it would be accurate to say that there was some anxiety about VAR and how it would be implemented in its first major international competition.

The VAR room in Moscow. Source: Evening Standard.

That anxiety has proven to be largely unfounded. VAR has been incredible during this tournament, and we have to give credit where credit is due. During FIFA's briefing on VAR's implementation after the completion of the group stages, Pierluigi Collina, the head of the referee's committee, said that 95% of "game-changing decisions" were correct without VAR. After the video referees had intervened, that number rose to 99.3%. It hasn't been perfect, but it is damn close.

The system reviewed 335 incidents during the group stage, and overturned 14 decisions made by the on-field referee. Overall VAR has been quick and accurate, and the fact that the players know that everything they do will be monitored in multiple angles and slow motion is probably a big part of why there has been so few red cards this tournament. Only four red cards have been shown so far, with two games to go. A big decrease when you compare it to the 10 shown in 2014, the 17 from 2010 and the 28 we saw in 2006.

The Tactical Trends of the World Cup

Legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson once said that "attack wins games, defence wins titles" and we have seen this displayed to its full effect in Russia. The number of goals scored in Russia 2018 (2.60 goals per game on average) has overall been very similar to Brazil 2014 (2.67) as well as the last season in both the English Premier League (2.68) and Spanish La Liga (2.69). Keeping in mind that there are still two games to be played in Russia, there were only 10 more goals scored in Brazil than in this tournament so far.

It is, however, noticeable that there has been a slight shift towards a more cautious play style, and I believe that this is part of a longer trend in European club football. José Mourinho has implemented disciplined defensive systems as manager of Chelsea, Internazionale and Manchester United to great effect over the last 15 years. The recent success of defensively minded teams who play a 4-4-2 formation, particularly over the last five seasons, may also be a factor. We have seen clubs like Leicester City, Burnley and Atlético Madrid achieve incredible feats.

Examples of how Sweden, Russia and Uruguay have lined up during the World Cup. Sweden's flat 4-4-2, Russia's 4-4-1-1 deployed against Croatia, and Uruguay's 4-4-2 diamond against France, in which Bentancur assists in pressing the opposition's defenc… — Examples of how Sweden, Russia and Uruguay have lined up during the World Cup. Sweden's flat 4-4-2, Russia's 4-4-1-1 deployed against Croatia, and Uruguay's 4-4-2 diamond against France, in which Bentancur assists in pressing the opposition's defence before dropping in next to Torreira in the midfield.

This cautious play style seems to have influenced some of the teams at the World Cup. Some of the biggest overachievers of the tournament have played in a similar fashion, with Sweden, Russia and Uruguay all reaching the quarter-finals. While Uruguay is a formidable team with considerable talent, Sweden and Russia have done extraordinarily well to go so far into the knockout stages. The three teams (for the most part) played variants of the 4-4-2 formation, which saw them drop deep in defence, forming compact and disciplined defensive lines, and hoping to catch their opponents by surprise with quick counter-attacks.

France, one of this year's finalists, line up with a 4-2-3-1 formation on paper, although it's not that straight forward. On their left wing we find Blaise Matuidi, who is more of a central midfield player. Matuidi will drop deeper to assist the midfield when France does not have the ball, and only sparingly go on offensive runs down the left hand side. Antoine Griezmann plays his club football for the aforementioned Atlético Madrid, one of the teams that have pioneered the modern 4-4-2. He is therefore also predisposed to dropping off and helping the team in defence. These quirks makes it so that France often ends up looking like a 4-4-2 in practice.

One thing that teams with two defensive lines of four do extremely well is punishing slow and languished attacking build-up play from opposing teams. Teams who play disciplined and defensive football are the Davids to Germany, Spain, and Argentina's Goliath.

Germany looked slow and unimaginative for the lion's share of the tournament, and the holding champions were eliminated in the group stage by a hard-working South Korea team that plays a flat 4-4-2 formation. Spain looked dreadful as their immense individual skills were counteracted by Russia, who eliminated the 2010 winners in a penalty shoot-out. Argentina spent much of the tournament looking lost and confused, and were never able to provide the brilliant Lionel Messi with the support he needed. Arentina fell to France in the round of 16.

Liberté, égalité, Mbappé

Speaking of speed... French striker Kylian Mbappé has been the hottest young talent in football for 18 months after breaking into a stellar Monaco side that won Ligue 1 and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in the 2016/17 season. Europe's big clubs started circling around Mbappé in the summer of 2017, and a transfer was eventually agreed with Paris Saint-Germain. At the tender age of 18, Mbappé would not only become the second most expensive player of all time, but also increase the current record fee for a teenager by around €130 million.

Mbappé is now coming off his first season for PSG, which saw him score 21 goals in 44 games, and was given France's number 10 jersey for the World Cup in Russia. France's number 10 jersey is iconic for previously being worn by all-time greats like Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane, and carries with it immense pressure to live up to their achievements.

Kylian Mbappé in action against Argentina. Source: FIFA.

Still just 19 years old, Kylian Mbappé is doing things that no teenager has the right to do on the biggest stage in world sport. After becoming France's youngest goal scorer in a major tournament with his goal against Peru in the group stage, he went on to be voted man of the match in France's 4-3 win over Argentina in the round of 16. Starting the scoring by winning France a penalty after an electrifying solo run in the 11th minute of the game, Mbappé also scored twice to bring France through to the quarter-finals.

Kylian Mbappé's two goals against Argentina saw him equal a very special record in World Cup history. He became only the second teenager ever to score twice in a World Cup match, and the first to have done so in 60 years. The legendary Pelé is the only other player to manage this feat; he scored twice in Brazil's victory over Sweden in the 1958 final, aged 17.

Mbappé put in another immense performance in the semi-finals against Belgium, where he created six chances, the most among the French players. It is hard to overstate just how otherworldly Kylian Mbappé is. Football hasn't seen a young talent of this level since Lionel Messi first arrived on the scene in the mid-2000s. On Sunday, he will become the third teenager ever to start in a World Cup final (after Pelé in 1958 and Guiseppe Bergomi in 1982), and Mbappé was the second youngest player to go to the World Cup in Russia. He wasn't even born when France won the World Cup in 1998.

While three goals and one assist before the final might not make it seem like he is setting the world alight, it is important to consider how important Mbappé is to France's attack overall. For the most part, France defends in a sort of 4-4-2 shape with Mbappé and fellow striker Olivier Giroud often staying high up the pitch. While Giroud poses a formidable physical threat, especially in the air, Mbappé is extremely quick, clocking in at 32.4km/h with the ball in his feet in the aforementioned game against Argentina. Keeping Mbappé high on the pitch (usually on the right side in order to target space behind the opposition left back) ensures that the French team is always one well placed pass away from a dangerous counter-attack. This forces the opposing team to chose one of two options:

Push their defence high in attack, but leave themselves vulnerable to the speedy Mbappé running in behind them.
Leave their defensive line deep to stop counter-attacks, at the cost of lack of support for their own offence.

No matter what they choose to do, France could profit thanks to how scary Mbappé is.

In a World Cup that has largely been focused on collectives, Mbappé is one of very few individuals that truly stand out. Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea leads the way of negative standout performances. Usually regarded as one of the top three goalkeepers in world football, de Gea had a woeful World Cup, and only managed to make one save out of the 11 shots on target he faced. Other game-changing performances came from the absence of Edinson Cavani and James Rodríguez for Uruguay and Colombia, respectively. The two players missed crucial knockout games for their countries through injury, and both teams missed their influence as they were eliminated from the competition.

Marcelo Brozovic, too, should be mentioned. One of the least glamorous players in a Croatian midfield stacked with talent, Brozovic ran a 2018 World Cup high of 16 339 meters in their semi-final against England. This after three consecutive games that went to extra time for Croatia. Their captain, Luka Modric, has given his country a number of incredible performances this tournament, as well. The outcome of Sunday's final could very well be the deciding factor in whether Luka Modric or Kylian Mbappé will win the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament.