A cold analysis of the situation made it somewhat obvious that France would lose due to Deschamps' insistence on using four forwards. The Spanish school, with Barcelona as its base, players well-integrated at the club, some from their youth academy, a team with great collective play and world-class quality, was pitted against two bruiser-like defensive midfielders (although technically good, obviously not simple guard dogs, but Tchoameni and Rabito don't have the technical quality of a Rodri/Kimich/Vitinha as holding midfielders) and four forwards being made to look like fools. In football, some teams play better against certain opponents than others; Brazil, with all its starters, would have fared better against Spain than France. What France is lacking is a quality number 8: Paul Pogba. They have difficulty creating central midfielders, and that's why they've been dominated by Spain in recent years. Olise makes passes, but still defends poorly; he's not better than Pogba overall.
Special mention goes to Rodri, who performed well in all the knockout matches and has been Spain's best player in the knockout stages. He has fully recovered from his injury, plays in a more dangerous area, the same injury Neymar had, injured a year later, not to mention that he managed to play in the Club World Cup, a difference made by a committed player. Rodri deserves this cup to be recognized as one of the best midfielders in history, on par with Xavi and Iniesta.
If England makes it to the final even without winning the Ballon d'Or, it should go to Harry Kane, as he had the best season of any number 9 in history, considering all time periods.