If he was not to leave Luzhniki Stadium with the Golden Ball, France’s Paul Pogba at least was able to produce the golden ball of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. His audacious pass forward to teammate Kylian Mbappe in the 59th minute was a masterpiece, struck with such immediacy and precision and along the perfect line to set the best teenager on the planet into an acre of open space.

That play would clinch the World Cup for France. It took a brisk series of events for the ball eventually to find its way back to Pogba at the top of the box, and from there, after his initial attempt was deflected back to him, he fired a sizzling leftfooted shot past Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.

Without Pogba’s initial moment of genius, though — one of many he conjured during the past month from the center of France’s midfield — the feisty Croatians might have pulled off yet another comeback in this tournament.

Pogba’s goal became decisive in a 4-2 victory that made the French world champions for the second time, two decades after current coach Didier Deschamps and superstar midfielder Zinedine Zidane helped win the first.

This tournament may become the platform for Pogba eventually to become a legend. He would have been a deserving Golden Ball winner; the award that goes to the tournament’s best player instead became a fitting consolation prize for Croatia’s excellent Luka Modric.

“This could be, and probably will be now, the making of Paul Pogba,” Fox Sports analyst Kelly Smith said Sunday following France’s victory. “He’s big in size, and he certainly delivered. He did take control of the game when it opened up in the second half.”

Pogba spent so much of this tournament at the core of so many positive developments for France. He defended, he attacked, he created. He was a complete midfielder for France. Teammate Ngolo Kante was at the core of the midfield defense, but Pogba contributed regularly. And when he won back the ball, Pogba was a threat to dribble forward as he did to help set up Antoine Griezmann's clincher in the Uruguay quarterfinal or to cut loose a pass like the one to Mbappe.

He was the player so many Manchester United fans had expected to see when their club bought him two years ago for more money than had ever been paid for a professional soccer player.

It almost seems quaint now, the amount sent to Italian champion Juventus by Man U. Sure, it was a world record at the time: 105 million euros. And English soccer analyst Paul Merson did declare the price was “way over the top” for a player he did not consider to be a game-changer.

In a way, Merson was right. And in a way, he was wrong. Because only a year later Paris St. Germain was paying 180 million euros for Mbappe and 222 million euros for Neymar, and Barcelona spent 160 million of its Neymar money on Philippe Coutinho.

Pogba was a bargain given the market now.

Except he hasn’t been.

Smith noted that Pogba has received significant criticism in England for not scoring often enough for Man U, for getting pulled out of position, for not defending hard enough. Analyst Graham Souness acknowledged Pogba’s improved play in the World Cup but still felt it necessary to term his Premier League play “indisciplined.”

Pogba, 25, appeared in 25 Premier League games this past season, scoring six goals and producing 10 assists, missing two months with a serious thigh injury. In April, he was subbed out of a game and went directly to the dressing room before returning to watch the game on the bench. His relationship with manager Jose Mourinho was so damaged that a source told the Daily Mail that Pogba had been behaving like “a petulant child.” Pogba's love for the spotlight has not endeared him to some. His coach might be one.

There even was discussing that Mourinho would look to sell Pogba this summer. With the inflation in the market, it appeared certain Manchester United would be able to recover its initial investment, and probably make a considerable profit. With this World Cup performance, Pogba’s price will soar.

His value could, as well, if he were to stay and Mourinho were to find a way to take advantage of Pogba’s enormous talent, the way Deschamps has done for France.

“You can get defined by a World Cup,” said Fox analyst Alexi Lalas. “You can also get redefined.”

Pogba was the best player at the 2018 World Cup. He still could be the best player in the world. If Mourinho can’t make that happen at Manchester United, maybe the player isn’t the problem.