2018 — a memorable year for sports

PARIS, Dec 31 (AFP): It was a memorable year for sport in 2018, with the World Cup in Russia, a cricketing controversy and Serena Williams' bizarre outburst grabbing the headlines.

Here, AFP Sport takes a look at sporting highlights from the last 12 months:

France win World Cup

France won the World Cup on July 15 in Moscow, beating Croatia 4-2 in the highest-scoring final for 52 years. Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann all hit the target. Mbappe was not even born when France claimed the World Cup on home soil in 1998, their only previous win.

Mourinho's third season jinx

Jose Mourinho's third-season jinx struck again when he was fired by Manchester United on Dec 18 after a lengthy slump in fortunes at Old Trafford. He was sacked from his two previous jobs, at Chelsea and Real Madrid, following similar third-season slumps.

Serena's US Open tirade

Serena Williams' bid for a 24th Grand Slam title imploded in a furious tirade against umpire Carlos Ramos in the US Open final on Sep 8. Williams called him a thief after he docked her a point for two code violations. Her explosion then earned her a game penalty, prompting a further outburst and putting Japan's Naomi Osaka within one game of victory. Osaka went on to win her first Grand Slam 6-2, 6-4.

Real Madrid's triple

Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev on May 26 to win the Champions League for the third time in a row under coach Zinedine Zidane and the 13th in total for the Spanish giants. It proved to be Zidane's last game at the club who were also weakened by the departure of star striker Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus.

Cricket in crisis

Australian cricket was engulfed in a cheating scandal that triggered national soul-searching about sport and fair play. Test captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and opening batsman Cameron Bancroft were banned, while coach Darren Lehmann resigned after ball-tampering was caught by cameras during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Korean Olympic thaw

The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February produced a thaw in ties with nuclear-armed North Korea, who sent a team to take part in the Games as well as cheerleaders and the highest-ranking diplomatic delegation ever to venture south of the heavily defended inter-Korean border.

Darren Lehmann resigned after ball-tampering was caught by cameras during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Korean Olympic thaw

The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February produced a thaw in ties with nuclear-armed North Korea, who sent a team to take part in the Games as well as cheerleaders and the highest-ranking diplomatic delegation ever to venture south of the heavily defended inter-Korean border.