World Cup 2018: 5 players who narrowly missed out on the Golden Ball Award

France v Croatia - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final
France v Croatia - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final

#3 Ivan Rakitic

2018 FIFA World Cup Football Final France v Croatia Jul 15th
2018 FIFA World Cup Football Final France v Croatia Jul 15th

Ivan Rakitic is one of those players who may not score many goals but his overall value to the team is irreplaceable. When Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic, and Ivan Perisic stole all the attention, Ivan Rakitic silently did the job for his country.

Deployed mostly as a defensive midfielder in the tournament, Rakitic has played 638 minutes of intense football in the World Cup. His only goal in the tournament came against Argentina in a group stage game.

He scored Croatia’s vital penalties in the shootout against Denmark and Russia in the round of 16 and quarter-final respectively. The 30-year-old is not a flashy player but works hard with or without the ball and rarely makes mistakes.

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Edited by Sripad
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