Luka Modrić

Croatia · La Liga · MF · CRO · age 41

Luka Modrić driving forward with the ball in Croatia's blue shirt, number 10.
Photo Fanny Schertzer / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

The last dance

From a childhood of war to one last tournament

Luka Modrić learned football as a refugee. His earliest years were spent displaced by the Croatian War of Independence, his grandfather killed in the conflict, the family forced from their home. The boy who kicked a ball around a hotel car park in Zadar grew into the midfielder who, in 2018, broke the grip Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had held on the Ballon d'Or for a decade.

That same summer he dragged Croatia, a nation of under four million, all the way to a World Cup final. Four years later he led them to a semi-final and a bronze medal at 37. Now 40, with 196 caps, a Real Madrid legend playing out his club days at Milan, he is the heartbeat of the most successful generation his country has ever produced.

He is listed as recovering from a fractured cheekbone and is not yet in the projected eleven — but writing Modrić off has rarely ended well for anyone who has tried. One more tournament with the checkerboard on his chest would be the closing of an extraordinary circle.

Profil Coupe du Monde 2026

En convalescence - Broken cheekbone. Retour prévu : 2026-05-19
Équipe
Croatia
Poste
MF
Rôle dans l'effectif
Remplaçant
Classement au poste
#4
Sélections
196
Buts en sélection
28
Passes décisives en sélection
31
0.52(note du modèle, 0-1)
2.8%

Voir Luka Modrić dans la liste des buteurs de Croatia →

Forme récente

Cooling

2025/26 club form vs the player's multi-season baseline (0.08 vs 0.21).

Major tournament stats

TournamentMPMinGAxGShKPPrgPPrgCTklInt
Euro 20243242101.453543711
World Cup 20227673000.366151102717
Euro 20204393110.135754828
World Cup 20187720211.8101715211737
All tournaments212,028423.624314323041333
Event data from StatsBomb open data, covering the World Cup, Euro, Copa América and AFCON finals. Small per-tournament samples — totals shown, not per-90 rates.
▸How to read this table— 11 columns explained
MP
Matches played in the tournament.
Min
Total minutes on the pitch.
G
Goals scored (penalties in normal play included; shootouts excluded).
A
Assists — passes that directly led to a goal.
xG
Expected goals — summed per-shot quality (StatsBomb's model).
Sh
Shots taken.
KP
Key passes — passes that led to a shot.
PrgP
Progressive passes — completed passes moving the ball ≥10m toward goal.
PrgC
Progressive carries — carries advancing ≥5m toward goal.
Tkl
Tackles won.
Int
Interceptions.

Radar de scouting en tournoi

Defending

Tackles won / 90
0.58
22
Interceptions / 90
1.46
88
Ball recoveries / 90
5.55
84
Blocks / 90
0.80
4
Clearances / 90
0.13
9
Pressures / 90
16.02
46

Passing & progression

Prog. passes / 90
19.17
99
Key passes / 90
1.38
83
Prog. carries / 90
13.49
96
Pass completion %
83.9%
47

Possession

Carries / 90
58.00
96
Dribbles / 90
1.38
81

Statistiques par 90 minutes issues des données de tournois majeurs (StatsBomb), classées parmi 102 midfielders ayant joué 270 minutes ou plus dans les mêmes compétitions. Plus c'est haut, mieux c'est.

398
Matchs en carrière
30,634
Minutes en carrière
34
Buts
59
Passes décisives
12.4
xG

Percentiles de carrière

Goals / 90
0.10
43
xG / 90
0.04
54
xAG / 90
0.07
71

Parmi 355 joueurs au poste de MF avec au moins 3,000 minutes de carrière dans le jeu de données. Plus c'est haut, mieux c'est.

Career — goals & xG by season

GoalsxG
Career goals and xG by season — 14 seasons from 2009-10 to 2022-23, 34 total goals, 12.4 total xG.Career goals and xG by season — 14 seasons from 2009-10 to 2022-23, 34 total goals, 12.4 total xG.013451011121314151617181920212223

Saison par saison

SaisonClubChampionnatButsPasses décisives
2009-10TottenhamPremier League251,91033——
2010-11TottenhamPremier League322,79332——
2011-12TottenhamPremier League363,21444——
2012-13Real MadridLa Liga332,17933——
2013-14Real MadridLa Liga342,63916——
2014-15Real MadridLa Liga161,29013——
2015-16Real MadridLa Liga322,61924——
2016-17Real MadridLa Liga251,88712——
2017-18Real MadridLa Liga261,970161.84.2
2018-19Real MadridLa Liga342,608362.73.8
2019-20Real MadridLa Liga311,996371.53.3
2020-21Real MadridLa Liga352,733532.34.6
2021-22Real MadridLa Liga282,032282.55.2
2022-23Real MadridLa Liga11764221.62.4
Données FBref jusqu'en 2022-23. Les lignes marquées wiki proviennent des entrées de meilleur buteur Wikipedia et ne contiennent que les buts.
▸How to read this table— 6 columns explained
MP
Matches played in that season (start or sub counts as one).
Mins
Total minutes on the pitch — better signal for workload than MP alone.
Goals
Goals scored (penalties included).
Assists
Passes that directly led to a goal (FBref attribution).
xG
Expected goals — per-shot quality scored 0–1 by distance / angle / pressure, summed across the season.
xAG
Expected assisted goals — the xG of shots created by this player's passes, summed.
FBref data ends 2022-23; current-season rows tagged wiki come from Wikipedia top-scorer tables and carry only goals.

Rest of the Croatia squad