New reason floated for N’Golo Kante’s average World Cup final

N'Golo Kante had a rare off day in Sunday's World Cup final against Croatia.

He was dispossessed twice, he received a yellow card for a clumsy tackle on Ivan Rakitic and he completed just 57% of his passes before he was replaced by Steven N'Zonzi early in the second-half. It was an aberration for Kante when he entered the final in Moscow as a potential Golden Ball contender. The Chelsea midfielder enjoyed a fantastic tournament but his final may have been marred by illness after French publication Le Parisien reported that he may have suffered from gastroenteritis.

"N'Golo Kanté was actually sick in the historic final of the football World Cup between France and Croatia," Ronan Folgoas wrote. "According to our information, the metronome of the French game was suffering from gastroenteritis. This probably explains much of the decision of Didier Deschamps to substitute him in the 55th minute of play."

Chelsea teammate Eden Hazard hailed the midfielder as the best in the world in his position before the World Cup started and added that the Blues chances of winning increases significantly when he played.

'I play all year with Kante,' he told beIN Sports. 'He is the best in the world in his position. When he is at his best, you have a 95 per cent chance to win the game.'