Croatia's World Cup runners-up "returned home to a mass greeting" in Bana Jelacica Square in Zagreb a day after losing the final 4-2 against France. The players "made it back as heroes" after guiding Croatia to its best-ever finish at a World Cup, eclipsing its third-place finish in '98. Thousands of fans packed into the square "to try and get a glimpse of their heroes, who were scheduled to appear on stage to acknowledge their supporters on Monday afternoon" (DAILY MAIL, 7/16).
Authorities in Moscow charged members of punk protest group Pussy Riot with "violation of spectators' rights" and illegally wearing police symbols when they ran onto the field during the World Cup final. The Interfax news agency reported that the four "could face penalties of up to 11,500 rubles ($185) or 160 hours of community service." Three men and a woman dressed in police uniforms interrupted the match early in the second half (AP, 7/16).
Southgate underground station was "renamed after England's World Cup manager." The Piccadilly line station in north London will be rebranded Gareth Southgate for 48 hours from Monday, Transport for London and Visa revealed (SKY NEWS, 7/16).
Heavy rain damaged one of Russia's newly-built World Cup stadiums on Sunday. Footage from Volgograd showed a "fresh landslide on an embankment near the stadium, which made a several-meter-deep hole in it and covered a sidewalk with mud." A spokesperson for the state Sport In company overseeing the construction said that "there were also leaks inside the stadium which could take up to a week to repair" (REUTERS, 7/16).
Russia was the target of "almost 25 million" cyber attacks during the World Cup, President Vladimir Putin said, "though he did not indicate who may have been behind the attacks." Putin: "During the period of the World Cup, almost 25 million cyber attacks and other criminal acts on the information structures in Russia, linked in one way or another to the World Cup, were neutralized" (PTI, 7/16).
Russia will "extend its visa-free travel regime" for foreign football fans through '18, Putin said after the World Cup final. Russia allowed football fans to travel to the country without visas to attend the World Cup "once they obtained fan IDs that were issued to supporters with match tickets" (REUTERS, 7/15).
France’s 4-2 win over Croatia drew an average audience of 19.3 million viewers and an 82.2% market share on TF1. It was the most-watched match of the tournament and the most-watched program on French TV this year. The channel drew a peak audience of 22.2 million viewers at the end of the match. The audience represents the seventh-highest in French TV history (L’ÉQUIPE, 7/16).
