Nov 30

France defeat Germany to remain undisputed champions

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France 2-1 Germany

16 October 2018 Stade de France, Saint-Denis Nations League Scorers: Kroos (pen) (Germany); Griezmann (2, 1 pen) (France) France came from behind once again to retain the UFWC title and ensure they remain the undisputed official and unofficial football world champions. Antoine Griezmann scored twice in the last half hour for France against struggling Germany. Germany took the lead from a penalty awarded after Paul Pogba was caught in possession and Leroy Sane's cross hit Presnel Kimpembe on the arm. Toni Kroos scored from the spot, just squeezing the ball under Hugo Lloris. Lloris subsequently made a couple of good saves to keep the score down to 0-1. France had been poor in the first half, but improved in the second, with Lucas Hernandez surging forward from left back. It was a Hernandez cross that created the equaliser with 30 minutes left to play, with Griezmann looping an impressive header past Manuel Neuer. Griezmann scored the winner from the penalty spot in the 78th minute, after a foul on Blaise Matuidi. This was France's 28th UFWC title match win, and it moves them up to 7th in the all-time rankings, alongside Germany and Sweden. In terms of the Nations League, France top group A1 with seven points, above the Netherlands with three and Germany with just one. France beat the Netherlands 2-1 in September. The next UFWC title match is another Nations League match, this time between France and the Netherlands, in Rotterdam on 16 November. You can keep up to date with all things UFWC by following us on Twitter or Facebook. If you're new to the UFWC you can read more here, or check out the brand new UFWC book.

New for 2018,the latest edition of the official UFWC book, Unofficial Football World Champions.

  This is the fourth edition of the book that has been published in every World Cup year since 2006. Expanded and updated to include new matches, teams, players and statistics, it’s a complete guide to the UFWC, including all 936 title matches played since 1872, and all 48 unofficial football world champions.   It's available exclusively from Amazon stores worldwide, priced at £9.99 or $13.95 - click here.