Less than a day to go for the extraordinary World Cup 2018 final between unfancied Croatia and veteran France, which won its first and only World Cup title at home against Brazil in 1998, and Bollywood’s football crazy fan John Abraham has said his money and prayers are on the Eastern European country.

Croatia, you know, gained independence from Yugoslavia only in 1991. And since then, the breakaway country has valiantly played in FIFA’s premier football tournament only on five occasions. This time, defying all odds, it has reached the final which it will fiercely contest at Russia’s Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow tomorrow night against France.

John, who might have been there with Amitabh Bachchan and Mukesh Ambani watching Luka Modric’s diehards take on Hugo Lloris’s Les Bleus team if he wasn’t busy shooting for RAW and promoting Satyameva Jayate, is confident Croatia will take home the cup this time. He’s attended other World Cup finals before and is still talking about those experiences.

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Bollywood tends to take the actor’s views on football seriously because John is the proud owner of the Indian Super League football team NorthEast United FC. And over ten years ago, he starred in Bollywood’s first football film (Goal, produced by Ronnie Screwvala and directed by Vivek Agnihotri in 2007) alongside Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani. So it is understood that he knows the game as well as he knows fitness and bodybuilding.

But John’s yardstick of measure behind this prediction for Croatia is not based on form and strategy. He told PeepingMoon.com, “I want Croatia to win the World Cup 2018 because I always support the underdog teams.” This, despite knowing that France is a strong team. In fact, the French star forward Kylian Mbappe who is just 19 came in for special praise from the Parmanu superstar. John said, “I admire Mbappe. He’s an immigrant yet he plays so well for France. He is incredible.”

Football fans who are Bollywood aficionados have to decided now whether to stick with John Abraham or go against him just this once. The actor, who is in Mumbai doing promotions for Satyameva Jayate which releases on August 15t, is packing up his schedule early tomorrow and heading him to watch the game. PeepingMoon.com also is of the belief that Croatia will win. But football is a game of glorious uncertainties. You never know.