{"id":15290,"date":"2026-06-13T02:59:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/?p=15290"},"modified":"2026-06-13T02:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:29:37","slug":"fifa-world-cup-2026-the-ageless-maestro-luka-modric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/fifa-world-cup-2026-the-ageless-maestro-luka-modric\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA World Cup 2026\u2122 The Ageless Maestro: Luka Modri\u0107"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are footballers who retire. And then there are footballers who refuse to let the game go until it has given them everything they deserve.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-black ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Page Contents:<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #282fff;color:#282fff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #282fff;color:#282fff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/fifa-world-cup-2026-the-ageless-maestro-luka-modric\/#Forty_Years_Old_Still_Playing\" title=\"Forty Years Old. Still Playing.\">Forty Years Old. Still Playing.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/fifa-world-cup-2026-the-ageless-maestro-luka-modric\/#The_One_That_Got_Away\" title=\"The One That Got Away\">The One That Got Away<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/fifa-world-cup-2026-the-ageless-maestro-luka-modric\/#Earning_the_Right_to_Be_Here\" title=\"Earning the Right to Be Here\">Earning the Right to Be Here<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/fifa-world-cup-2026-the-ageless-maestro-luka-modric\/#The_Bridge_Between_Eras\" title=\"The Bridge Between Eras\">The Bridge Between Eras<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/fifa-world-cup-2026-the-ageless-maestro-luka-modric\/#One_Last_Stand\" title=\"One Last Stand\">One Last Stand<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luka Modri\u0107 is 40 years old. He has won six UEFA Champions League titles, one Ballon d&#8217;Or, and guided Croatia to a World Cup final and a third-place finish in consecutive tournaments. By any measure, his career is complete. And yet here he is \u2014 selected again, boarding a plane to North America, still wearing the number 10, still carrying a nation that has no idea what it will do when he is finally gone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Follow Luka Modric and Croatia&#8217;s campaign at the<a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/message\/19:4565a8cf-5612-42d4-87e3-180e56d27b50_6209bf08-aa7b-4376-a8e5-0c3ba3de8f4e@unq.gbl.spaces\/1780993896337?context=%7B%22contextType%22%3A%22chat%22%7D\"> 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> live in India on ZEE5 \u2014 stream every match with a <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/message\/19:4565a8cf-5612-42d4-87e3-180e56d27b50_6209bf08-aa7b-4376-a8e5-0c3ba3de8f4e@unq.gbl.spaces\/1780993848090?context=%7B%22contextType%22%3A%22chat%22%7D\">ZEE5 FIFA subscription<\/a>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Forty_Years_Old_Still_Playing\"><\/span><b>Forty Years Old. Still Playing.<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Born on September 9, 1985, Modri\u0107 will be 40 years old throughout the 2026 football World Cup. If he steps onto the pitch \u2014 and there is every reason to believe he will \u2014 he joins one of the smallest clubs in football: outfield players who have competed at a World Cup at that age. Ronaldo is here at 41. Ochoa at 40. Modri\u0107 is among them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What makes his presence remarkable is not that he is still fit, though he is. It is that he is still good. Not adequate, not a symbolic selection \u2014 genuinely, influentially good. His legs no longer carry him past defenders the way they once did, but his brain has compensated for every inch of pace he has lost. He sees the game at a speed nobody else in Croatian football currently matches.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_One_That_Got_Away\"><\/span><b>The One That Got Away<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2018, Modri\u0107 won the Ballon d&#8217;Or \u2014 the first player in eleven years to take it from Messi or Ronaldo. He deserved it. That summer, he had driven Croatia to a World Cup final almost entirely on willpower and vision, beating Argentina, England and Russia along the way. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/france-1-2-ivory-coast-goals-highlights-and-what-it-means-for-fifa-world-cup-2026\/\">France<\/a> won the final 4-2. The trophy went to Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2022, Croatia returned and won the bronze medal in Qatar, and Modri\u0107 played magnificently again. By then he was 37. Every tournament since 2018 has felt like a farewell that never quite arrives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2026 is different. This is genuinely the last time. Croatia will not have Modri\u0107 at the next World Cup. There are no more chances after this one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Earning_the_Right_to_Be_Here\"><\/span><b>Earning the Right to Be Here<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Croatia made qualifying look easy, cruising into the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/one-trophy-48-teams-billion-dreams-welcome-fifa-world-cup-2026\/\">FIFA<\/a> World Cup without losing a single match and drawing only once along the way. Right at the center of it all was Luka Modri\u0107, with the clutch goals and brilliant assists that keep this team moving to his rhythm.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Bridge_Between_Eras\"><\/span><b>The Bridge Between Eras<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of the generation that shook the world in 2018 has moved on. Rakitic has stepped away from the national team. Mand\u017euki\u0107 is long gone. The squad Modri\u0107 leads into North America is younger, less experienced, and heavily reliant on his veteran presence to navigate the pressure of a tournament that chews up unprepared sides in the group stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Croatia&#8217;s identity at World Cups is specific and earned: they drag opponents into deep water, win matches in extra time or on penalties, refuse to accept that the game is over until the final whistle or the final kick. They have done it repeatedly. They have won five of their last six World Cup knockout matches via extra time or shootouts. That mentality does not come from a tactics board. It comes from the man wearing the number 10.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One_Last_Stand\"><\/span><b>One Last Stand<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Croatia open their 2026 World Cup campaign against England in Dallas on June 18. It is not a coincidence that this fixture resonates \u2014 Croatia knocked England out of the 2018 semi-finals in extra time, one of the defining moments of Modri\u0107&#8217;s tournament legacy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever happens in North America, this is the final time football fans will see him in a Croatia shirt at a World Cup. The number 10. The Ballon d&#8217;Or. The greatest midfielder of his generation, on the grandest stage, one last time. Make sure you watch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Watch Luka Modri\u0107 in action \u2014 England vs Croatia is live on Zee5, June 18, 1:30 AM IST. Get a ZEE5 subscription today and do not miss out on a single click.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Disclaimer:<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Subscription pack prices are subject to change from time to time. Please visit the subscription page for the most up-to-date pricing information.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are footballers who retire. And then there are footballers who refuse to let the game go until it has given them everything they deserve. Luka Modri\u0107 is 40 years old. He has won six UEFA Champions League titles, one Ballon d&#8217;Or, and guided Croatia to a World Cup final and a third-place finish in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":15163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3019],"tags":[3048,3031,3049],"class_list":["post-15290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-croatia-football-team","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-the-last-dance"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1132x400.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Sourav K","author_link":"https:\/\/www.zee5.com\/global\/blog\/author\/sourav-k\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>FIFA World Cup 2026\u2122 The Ageless Maestro: Luka Modri\u0107 - 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