Real Madrid star Toni Kroos makes bold claims about Luka Modric after Croatia lose FIFA World Cup semifinal

Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has claimed that Croatian hero Luka Modric could play until Euro 2024 despite retirement rumors following his team's exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Vatreni were beaten 3-0 by Argentina in the competition's semi-final on Tuesday, ending their hopes of reaching back-to-back World Cup finals.

Modric, who starred for Croatia once again at the tournament with his midfield brilliance, is 37 now, and there are speculations that he could call time on his international career.

However, his Real Madrid teammate, Kroos, believes he could continue playing for his national team for a few more months till the next European championship.

The German said (via Madrid Zone):

“If I had to guess I’d say Modrić will play at Euro 2024.”

Modric has himself faced retirement questions in the media throughout Croatia's 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign and once more following their defeat last night.

However, the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has insisted that his focus is on winning the third-place play-offs.

For all the talk of his final World Cup appearance, Modric could still feature for his team in Saturday's clash for the bronze medal.

Croatia will face either France or Morocco at the Khalifa International Stadium.

---

Croatia can be proud of themselves for another fantastic FIFA World Cup campaign

Croatia's FIFA World Cup dream might have ended, but the team can be absolutely proud of themselves.

After marching all the way to the finals of Russia 2018, Zlatko Dalic's side made another deep run in Qatar.

Once again, the Vatreni built their campaign on the back of a resilient defense while demonstrating a steely mentality.

In both their knockout games before the semi-final, the Croats fell behind, only to fight back into the game and push their opponents to penalty shootouts before prevailing.

Croatia also emphatically wiped out an early deficit against Canada in the group stages to win 4-1.

This is a team that didn't give up until the end, with Luka Modric, the evergreen star of their show, peeling his team off the ground in difficult moments to keep them going.

Many critics and fans severely underestimated Croatia's golden generation, but following back-to-back impressive FIFA World Cup campaigns, they have proved everybody wrong.