Croatia vs France: 5 areas where Croatia lost the World Cup Final to France

#4 Modric not having a good game

Modric could not hit the top gear against France

Croatia had 61% ball possession and 83% passing accuracy. They stitched together 548 passes and covered a total of 100 Kilometres.

Yet their engine did not hit top gear, which was because Luka Modric had a very quiet game. The diminutive Croatian looked like a shadow of himself and seemed extremely tired and lost at times.

He had played 604 minutes prior to this game, running 63 Kilometres. He had played a fantastic tournament until the final and had quite deservedly won the Golden Ball.

Modric had, it seemed, given his all to get his team to the World Cup Final and when he arrived at the grand stage, he had left nothing for himself.

Like a selfless saviour, he had waned himself for the cause of the team, to the point that he was exhausted.

Sadly, no one stepped up from his team to take the load off him, to share his burden and run his battle for him. It became the doom for Croatia because apart from the first 15 minutes, Modric never looked in the game.