Luka Modrić talks about chances of playing at 2026 World Cup

Luka Modrić

Three months ago, Croatia defeated Portugal (2-1) for the first time in history, and they did so on Portuguese soil in their final warm-up match ahead of the Euro 2024 in Germany.

Tonight both teams meet again in the opening round of the UEFA Nations League in Lisbon.

Zlatko Dalić will be without Marcelo Brozović and Domagoj Vida, who have retired, and four other players sidelined due to injury.

During a press conference before the match, manager Dalić and captain Luka Modrić shared their thoughts ahead of Croatia’s first match since the Euros.

The Croatian captain was the first to answer questions.

“Luka, with the start of a new cycle, what’s your view on the Euros and your expectations for the Nations League?”

“The Euros didn’t end as we had hoped. Our first goal was to get through the group stage, and we had high expectations, which were justified. I understand why there was such a sense of euphoria among the fans and ourselves.

Sometimes, things in football don’t go as planned. We gave it our all, which is the most important thing, but it didn’t work out as we wanted. That’s behind us now. I hope we’ve learned from it, and now we have a new competition ahead.

We were finalists in the Nations League, so we naturally have high expectations for ourselves. We want to have a good tournament and do well in this group. We’re hoping to reach the Final Four. We also want more players to establish themselves and make an impact in this competition, preparing for what lies ahead in the future,” Modrić said, writes 24sata.

“Did you have doubts after the Euros, and what motivated you to continue?”

“It doesn’t matter how much I doubted myself; what matters is that I’m here. I’m still as motivated as I was at the beginning, and I still have a great desire to play.

Playing for Croatia has always been my greatest source of pride and ambition, and I’m happy to still be part of it. The manager wants me, the federation wants me, and my teammates are happy. That’s why I’m still here, and I believe I can contribute, so I’m here for whatever is needed.”

“What can we expect from Croatia?”

“We face a tough opponent. Portugal wasn’t an easy team for us until that last friendly. But this is different, as it’s a competitive match. We have everything we need to show ourselves in the best light against a great team. I hope we’ll play well. It won’t be easy because we’re up against a very strong side.”

“Will you play at the next World Cup?”

“That’s a long way off. At my age, I don’t want to make long-term plans. We’ll see. From this perspective, I’m not sure how realistic it is. We need to take it match by match. My goal is to do as well as possible in the Nations League, and then we’ll see what happens next. I don’t know how realistic it is; you need to listen to your body and see how you feel.”

“Who would you highlight from the Portuguese squad?”

“Portugal has top-class players who play for the biggest clubs. We know all of them and how good they are, so I wouldn’t single anyone out. But we all know who their key players are. Besides Cristiano, the player I like most is Bernardo Silva; he’s exactly my type of player.”

Luka Modrić

“What’s the future of the Croatian national team?”

“There are many talented players in the national team who can lead in the future, just as we did when we came through. Čarli, Dudu, myself, Brozović later on. There’s definitely talent, and when you’re surrounded by younger players, they keep you young and push you to give your best and compete with them.

That’s good for me because I’m very competitive. We have a bright future ahead. Us older players are here to help them grow into leaders.

It’s a normal process, but we’re not like big nations where this happens overnight; we don’t have millions of players to simply replace anyone. It’s not easy; we don’t have the same pool as other teams.

But the players we have now are of great quality, and I hope they’ll bring Croatia much success and happiness in the future, as we’ve done in recent years,” Modrić concluded.