two decades after winning the world cup on home soil, a star-studded france team will be massive favorites to beat croatia, playing in its first ever final. it s the smallest country by population to reach the title match since uruguay back in 1950. barely more than 4 million people live in croatia. that s fewer than the state of alabama. and if croatia beat the french, it would be a bigger upset than the eagles winning the super bowl earlier this year against the patriots. no tom brady equivalent in this game, but watch out for france s keelan mbappe, the first to score the most knockout goals in a match since pele in 1958. mbappe could well be the sport s next big mega star. but even though few experts predicted croatia would get this far, they have a handful of players from the biggest and most successful clubs in europe. captain luca modric helping real madrid win the championships league, ivan rakitic part of the team that won spain s la liga, and striker mario manzucic is