Ballon d'Or 2018 : Luka Modric and the Striking Coincidences with the 1998 Ballon d'Or award

Luka Modric, the Golden Ball winner of the FIFA world cup 2018, is tipped to win the Ballon d'Or closely on the heels of his victory at the FIFA football awards.

The other possible contenders to the title includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi , Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe etc.

While Modric is considered the prime favourite to win the award, there is a possibility that Croatian footballer will miss out the Ballon d'Or like what happened to the Croatian legend Davor Suker in 1998.

Davor Suker was considered one of the prime contenders to win Ballon d'Or in 1998. But he could not stand up to the popularity and acceptance Zinedine Zidane enjoyed back then. Suker came second in the race for Ballon d'Or and fell short. Will the former Tottenham Hotspur fall short once again for Croatian football is the real question here?

Davor Suker in 1998 World Cup

These are the similarities that the author has found between the 2 situations (1998 & 2018).

1. France won the world cup in 1998 and in 2018. Both France and Croatia had dream runs in both the world cups.

2. Croatia was knocked out of the 1998 world cup to France in the semifinals. In the 2018 World cup, Croatia was knocked out by France in the Finals.
3. The top scorer in 1998 World cup was Davor Suker, the Croatian legend, While the Golden Ball winner in 2018 World cup is Luka Modric , another Croatian legend.
4. Both Davor Suker and Luka Modric played/plays for Real Madrid and Real Madrid was the UEFA Champions league winners in both 1998 and in 2018.
5. While the eventual Winner of 1998 Ballon d'Or was Zinedine Zidane who was playing for Juventus then, there is a highly touted contender for Ballon d'Or in 2018 who also plays for Juventus now - Cristiano Ronaldo.

Now the question comes up once again - Will Ronaldo beat Modric to win Ballon d'Or 2018 and repeat the history or will it be a French Footballer (Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Raphael Varane are touted as worthy contenders) who will come in front of the Real Madrid midfielder?

Though the above elements could be rare coincidences, Croatian football deserves to win a Ballon d'Or. It would be unfortunate for the Croatian fans to be denied the coveted trophy once again after all the dedication and exemplary team work shown by the Croatian national team at the FIFA world cup 2018.

The author strongly believes that Luka Modric, being the true professional worthy of the title, deserves the Ballon d'Or 2018 award. Hope the glamour game of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mohammed Salah, Antoine Griezmann or Kylian Mbappe does not put Luka Modric to the backstage at Ballon d'Or 2018 awards. If such a scenario unfolds before us, it will be another bad day for the Croatian football.