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Luka Modric won the Ballon d'Or 2018 on December 3 2018, thus ending the decade long dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Luka Modric was a heavy favourite heading into the gala, having previously won the UEFA Best Player and the FIFA Best Player awards. Despite stats being on his opposite side, even when it comes to play-making, he was heavily favoured by many due to his 'exceptional' World Cup campaign.
Croatia reached the World Cup finals in 2018, where they eventually lost to France. Luka had won the Golden Ball award at the event. It is a fact that Luka performed brilliantly in the World Cup, but another fact is that there were players who were as good as he was, and were given little credit for the success. Luka was hailed as the pivot and the lone warrior in his team for their success.
This is a myth that everyone believes, thus skyrocketing Luka's status as the best player in the world. However, it is worth noting that Luka Modric was Man of the Match in only one of the games.
This explains the fact that in each match there were players better than him. The Argentina game aided Luka's case for the Ballon d'Or, having played an important role in defeating Lionel Messi's team was the starting point of having Luka in the Golden Ball conversation. But little was the fact noted that this was an utterly poor Argentina team, and Luka's performances certainly dipped in the following games.
Still taking nothing away from Luka, here are four players who were as instrumental as he was in the World Cup campaign (even more instrumental, if you like to believe so).
#4 Mario Mandzukic
Juventus' star striker was the joint top-scorer for Croatia at the World Cup. His goals came in pressure matches i.e: the knockouts, all of them. His first goal was the early equaliser against Denmark.
He then went on to score the winner in the game against England. Then he added to his tally with his goal against France in the finals, which could be owed to a blunder by Lloris.
Still, Mandzukic would be the one who has to take the blame for the loss in the finals, owing to his own goal against France. But he was clinical in his finishing when it mattered, for all we know, if the England game had gone to penalties, then Croatia were second favourites. But Super Mario would intervene.
#3 Ivan Perisic
This World Cup was an exhibition of the talents Perisic possesses. His abilities to run into the defense, cut inside and shoot, finesse while shooting - everything was on display. This was the first time many noticed the prowess of Ivan.
The Inter Milan midfielder was the other top scorer for Croatia, with 3 goals to his name. He also had one assist. Like Mario Mandzukic, Perisic also scored three very important goals in the context of the competition. The first one was his 90th-minute winner against Iceland. He next scored the equalising goal in the semis against England, where Trippier had given them an early lead.
His last goal of the competition came in the 28th minute against France. He scored the equaliser in the final, but due to a quick penalty giveaway, Croatia couldn't use the momentum to score maybe a winning goal. Ivan Perisic's contributions were vital for the team in getting past the knockouts and reaching the finals.
#2 Ivan Rakitic
At Barcelona, the midfielder might not be the best player on the team for them, which is because Barcelona's system needs Rakitic to operate deep and help in build-up play, reducing his attacking contributions marginally. But in Zlatko Dalic's system, Rakitic played upfront alongside Luka, while Brozovic took care of the defensive duties.
Playing Rakitic upfront increased his contributions to the team's attacking play, and increased their flair. The role was one in which Rakitic already played at Sevilla, almost a box-to-box midfielder. He showed his brilliance in the game where many thought Modric was outstanding.
In the Argentina game, Rakitic hit the post with a free-kick, and also scored a goal. He was at his all-around best, and also completed 4 tackles and two aerial duels. He outshone Modric in a game which was arguably Luka's best performance in World Cup 2018.
Even though Rakitic scored only one goal in the whole tournament, he was with Luka in every move that happened in the midfield. Luka ran around the pitch in a flurry, which made it seem that he was the better performer.
In the Denmark game, Rakitic had a higher match rating. He completed 4 dribbles, 4 tackles and won 1 aerial, while passing at 90 percent in the Russia game. Modric did almost the same with 8 dribbles, 2 tackles, and winning one aerial, while passing at 87 percent. Both flopped against England as Perisic stepped up.
In the finals as well, both players weren't particularly good. Rakitic had 1 dribble, 3 aerials won, and 2 tackles, while Modric had 2 dribbles, 1 aerial won, and 1 tackle.
When it came to keeping the nerve, Rakitic was undoubtedly better as he kept his cool in the shootouts, while Modric felt the pressure, barely scoring against Akinfeev, and missing in normal time against Denmark.
Yet after identical performances, Luka got the Golden Ball, and Rakitic didn't even get recognition.
#1 Danijel Subasic
While Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove award, it was not particularly clear as to how he won it over Subasic or Schmeichel. The Croatian was exceptional throughout the tournament and stepped his game up when he came to the knockouts.
He made two and three saves respectively against Denmark and Russia. But he stepped up in the shootouts, performing brilliantly in the two successive games. Subasic saved three penalties against Denmark. He denied Christian Eriksen, Lasse Schöne, and Nicolai Jørgensen.
His team threw him up in the air that night, and Dalic hailed him as their hero. He denied the first penalty against Russia after saving the kick by Smolov.
He could have done better against France, but was blinded by his defense when both Mbappe and Pogba took their shots. But in the road till the semis, Subasic played a big role in Croatia's success. Had he not been there, Croatia would have tumbled at the RO16 itself.
