Didier Deschamps became the third person to win the World Cup as a player and a coach on Sunday, so when he told his French players it is a life-changing event, he was speaking from experience.

Minutes after being mobbed by his singing, dancing, champagne-spraying team at the Luzhniki Stadium press conference, Deschamps explained that those same players will never be the same.

"At the moment they do not really know what it is going on, they don't know what it is to be world champion," said Deschamps, who as a player captained France to the 1998 title.

"From tonight on they are going to be different, they are not going to be the same because they are world champions."

"Maybe they are going to win other titles, and of course I don't want to undermine any other title, but world champion when you are a professional footballer, there is nothing above that."

Explaining that the 23 players in the squad are now forever linked by their 4-2 triumph over a valiant Croatian team, the 49-year-old said each should savor the moment, because it may never come again.

Comparing Kylian Mbappe, who at 19 was named the tournament's best young player, to his 1998 World Cup teammates David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry, Deschamps said even the youngest players must not take anything for granted.

"I do hope (Mbappe) will be world champion again. He has done so much already, but one never knows," he said.

When asked about the personal accomplishment that sees him join Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer as the only men to win the World Cup as a player and a coach, Deschamps tried to deflect.

"It is a great pleasure for me, it is a very tight circle, (Zagallo and Beckenbauer) were better technically, both of them, on the pitch. But as coaches, we have lived through the same victory," he said.

"They were two beautiful players. I was not so beautiful, but I also won. It is personal pride, of course, but honestly, this is secondary. I am much happier, personally, to see the happiness of my players, they are world champions."