PARIS – “Congratulations to the Blues”! This is the message which the Grand Mosque of Paris, France, has sent to the French national football team on Monday, July 16, to celebrate their achievement of winning the FIFA World Cup 2018, Saphir News reported.
France beat Croatia 4-2 in the on Sunday to win the tournament for the second time in 20 years.
The statement of the mosque’s administration read: “The entire nation thanks the team for the big happiness it brought to us by the spectacular winning of the world cup.”
It also said: “We congratulate the formidable young players who created a feeling of brotherhood and solidarity within the team which sticks to the the values of the republic.”
For the mosque’s administration, “The team’s cohesion and the talent of each member of the national team were the ingredients of this victory.”
The mosque’s message concluded with a prayer: “May this beautiful and historic example of national unity continue as a good model against all evil movements which seek dividing the French people, who are stronger when they’re united.”
Beside the French team’s achievement, the FIFA also awarded Kylian Mbappe the “Best Young Player” prize of World Cup 2018, making this African French talent the youngest World Cup final goalscorer since the Brazilian legend, Pelé.
In addition to this, the French player, Antoine Griezmann, won both the Bronze Ball and the Silver Boot awards as he scored 4 goals and made 2 assists during the international tournament.
Out of the 23-player squad of France in World Cup 2018, 14 were players of African descent and eight of these hail from Muslim African countries.
Now with the closing of World Cup 2018, the teams which have achieved the most prestigious football title throughout the history of the competition since 1930 are: Brazil which stays at the top with five titles, followed by Germany with four trophies like Italy.
