Wasn’t that Pogba? Kante was subbed out early in the second half because the Croatians were exploiting the fact that in a game that occasionally looked like hockey he had somehow garnered the only yellow card at that point, on what looked a lot like a dive. (I’m glad the refs didn’t call a tighter game. This one was really entertaining.)
I didn’t think this was a game that would necessarily have come out differently had they played a few more times. In non-stupid goals, France still won 2-1, and after they broke the initial wave of Croatia dominating play they both defended effectively and generated plenty of chances for themselves. It’s not like Croatia hit the crossbar repeatedly. They had a couple of situations where some sort of superhuman athletic move might have generated a goal off a cross, but they weren’t superhumans.
The handball was a clear handball. A player used his hand – willingly or not – to redirect a close-in cross over the end line. The issue for me is with the rule – you have a non-intentional foul interrupting a play that may have had a 5-10% chance of scoring a goal, and the only remedy available is awarding the offense an 80-90% chance at a goal.