Croatia captain Luka Modric has been named the winner of the Golden Ball award at the 2018 World Cup.
The 32-year-old picked up the accolade for best player at the tournament ahead of Belgium’s Eden Hazard and France’s Antoine Griezmann after guiding his side to the final.
Although Modric finished on the losing side as France ran out 4-2 winners at the Luzhniki Stadium, he nonetheless became the first Croatian to win the coveted award.
The Real Madrid midfielder scored two goals and had one assist during the seven games in Russia, leading his team to two penalty shootout victories in what was Croatia’s best ever showing in the World Cup.
At 20th in FIFA’s world rankings, Zlatko Dalic’s side were the lowest-ranked team to reach a World Cup final, and the 13th different nation to do so.
The award for the young player of the tournament went to France’s Kylian Mbappe, while Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove and England captain Harry Kane claimed the Golden Boot.