Paul Pogba was still only 25 when he won the World Cup with France in Russia in 2018. In some ways, it already felt as if he was a veteran and yet the way he played in the final against Croatia, it also seemed that the best of his career must surely lie ahead of him.

That final in Moscow‘s Luzhniki Stadium felt like an epiphany for those of us who had grown weary of Pogba’s football career being reinvented as a tiresome soap opera that had increasingly become dominated by under-achievement at Manchester United after his record-breaking move to Old Trafford.

But in the World Cup final, Pogba played as if he were the king of the world. He let his football do the talking and it was the most articulate and expressive that even a quick-witted man like him had ever been. Antoine Griezmann was the official man of the match but most people knew it was Pogba.

He dominated football’s biggest stage that evening. When France were wobbling slightly at 2-1 up in the second half, it was Pogba who volleyed a brilliant pass inside a Croatia full-back for Kylian Mbappe to run on to.

Pogba did not sit and admire his pass. He ran to the edge of the area and when Mbappe and Griezmann worked it back to him, he saw one shot blocked by a defender and then curled the rebound with his left foot superbly into the corner of the Croatia goal. As he ran towards the corner flag, he was buried by an avalanche of his team-mates.

Paul Pogba, pictured here winning the 2018 World Cup with France, has been banned from football for four years for doping

The midfielder scored in the World Cup final to help France claim a 4-2 victory against Croatia

Kylian Mbappe (right) combined with Pogba to help the ex-Man United star score to put France 3-1 up

That day in Moscow, Pogba played like the best midfielder in the world. It always felt as if he had that in him. He had all the attributes. He had the brain, the build and the athleticism. At his best, in his first spell at Juventus and for France, he was a quite magnificent footballer.

It is why Thursday’s news that Pogba has been banned from football for four years after a drugs test found elevated levels of testosterone in his system felt so sad. It felt, above all, like such a waste of an extravagant talent.

Pogba, who was provisionally suspended in September after a drugs test in Italy, is still only 30 and had been trying to get his career back on track after his first season back at Juventus last season was wrecked by a succession of injuries.

He was randomly tested after Juventus’ first match of the season on August 20 and the positive test was confirmed by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal in a second sample in October.

Pogba has denied the accusations against him and has said he will appeal against the ban. ‘Everything I have built in my professional career has been taken away from me,’ he said in a statement. ‘I am sad, shocked and heartbroken.’

The same goes for all the fans of the France international and for most people who love the game. It is strange to talk about a player who won the World Cup wasting his talent because he achieved more than the vast majority of footballers ever will. But he could have achieved so much more.

Even since he was resigned by Manchester United in 2016 for a then world-record transfer fee of £89m, which surpassed the amount Real Madrid had paid Spurs for Gareth Bale, there was a feeling that Pogba’s club career was drifting and that he had become in thrall to his own celebrity.

Perhaps that has something to do with society’s difficulty in dealing with the financial and social empowerment of young footballers from under-privileged backgrounds, particularly young black footballers from under-privileged backgrounds, as it does with that player’s antics.

The 30-year-old tested positive for testosterone after Juventus ‘s first game of the season against Udinese

Pogba has confirmed his intention to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and has denied the allegations made against him

Jose Mourinho (left) was the Man United manager when Pogba returned to the club and he suffered under the Portuguese boss

Pogba won two League Cups with Man United and the Europa League under Mourinho in 2017

Perhaps, in Pogba’s case, it was also something to do with being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pogba’s move back to Old Trafford came at a time when United were still in the early stages of trying to recover from the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, who had been the boss in Pogba’s first stint at the club.

Jose Mourinho was the manager when Pogba signed and his spell in charge at United was increasingly marked by the negativity and bitterness of a manager who had slipped from his once-exalted position as one of the world’s elite coaches. Mourinho was a man out of his time and Pogba was one of many who suffered because of it.

And so, it began to seem as if there was disconnect between his celebrity and his performance on the pitch. United laboured in the shadow of Manchester City. Even though they finished second to City in 2017-18, they were 19 points adrift of Pep Guardiola’s side.

And so as Pogba slipped into mediocrity for his club, discussion about him became focussed more on his antics, his ‘dabbing’ goal celebration and the time he dyed his hair blue before a Manchester derby.

He was roundly criticised for that but he scored two goals in a United comeback victory. He still had an ability to rise to the big occasion. That derby was only a few months before that 2018 World Cup final.

Pogba was not a bust at United in the way that Antony, say, has been a bust. He was often the club’s best player. But partly because of his fee, partly because of his image, partly because of his profile, the expectations around him were sky-high and he struggled to live up to them.

But as Man United struggled, it began to seem as if there was disconnect between his celebrity and his performance on the pitch (Pogba here pictured with wife Zulay in February 2023)

The former Man United star shared a picture at Paris Fashion Week with Jadon Sancho (right)

It feels though that the ban handed to the midfielder, who was famous for his ‘dab’ celebration, will mark the end of his career

Like many other players, he also struggled with those around him trying to take advantage of his wealth. One of his brothers was implicated in an extortion plot against him. The sadness of that must have been hard to overcome.

His career at United petered out. When he moved to Juventus, many hoped and expected that he would find a new lease on life and that his career would be reborn. Injuries put paid to any possibility of that.

If his appeal against the length of his ban fails, it feels as if the sentence handed down to him on Thursday will mark the end of his career. It will be backdated to the time of his original suspension but that means more than three more years out of the game.

He would be nearly 34 by the time he could return, his best years a long, long way behind him. His greatest moment came when he was 25. It is no wonder that he and the rest of football are mourning what was lost.