Luka Modrić
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Modrić in 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Luka Modrić[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 9 September 1985[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Zadar, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | AC Milan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Zadar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2003 | Dinamo Zagreb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2008 | Dinamo Zagreb | 94 | (26) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | → Zrinjski Mostar (loan) | 25 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | → Inter Zaprešić (loan) | 18 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2012 | Tottenham Hotspur | 127 | (13) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2025 | Real Madrid | 394 | (30) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | AC Milan | 3 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Croatia U15 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Croatia U17 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Croatia U18 | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Croatia U19 | 11 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Croatia U21 | 15 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006– | Croatia | 190 | (28) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:11, 14 September 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:40, 8 September 2025 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Luka Modrić (Croatian pronunciation: [lûːka mǒːdritɕ];[4][5] born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club AC Milan and captains the Croatia national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time,[6] and as the greatest Croatian player ever.[7]
Modrić began his professional career with Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb in 2003 before he went on loan spells to Bosnian-Herzegovian side Zrinjski Mostar and Croatian side Inter Zaprešić. He made his debut for Dinamo in 2005 and his great performances earned him a move to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2008. He led Spurs to UEFA Champions League qualification in 2010, the club’s first qualification in almost 50 years. In the summer of 2012, Modrić joined Real Madrid for a £30 million transfer fee. In his second season, he won the 2013–14 Champions League title and was named in the squad of the season. After Zinedine Zidane took over Madrid in 2016, Modrić was a key member of Madrid’s three consecutive Champions League titles from 2015–16 to 2017–18, and was named into the squad of the season each time. In total, he won 28 major trophies at Madrid, including six UEFA Champions League titles, four La Liga titles, and two Copa del Rey titles, making him the most decorated footballer in the club's history.[8] He left Real Madrid in July 2025, joining Serie A club AC Milan on a free transfer.
Modrić has won numerous individual awards, including the Ballon d'Or in 2018, making him the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award since 2007, the Best FIFA Men's Player, and the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, and the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award in 2018. He has also been named in the FIFPRO World 11 six times and in the UEFA Team of the Year three times. In 2019, he was awarded the Golden Foot award for career results and personality.
Modrić made his international debut for Croatia against Argentina in March 2006, and scored his first international goal in a friendly match against Italy. Modrić has anchored Croatia's "second Golden Generation", participating in every major tournament Croatia has qualified for, including every UEFA Euro from 2008 to 2024 as well as every FIFA World Cup from 2006 to 2022. At Euro 2008, he was named in the Team of the Tournament. Modrić led Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. In March 2021, he became the country's most capped player. At the 2022 World Cup, he led the team to a third-place finish, winning the Bronze Ball as the tournament’s third best player. He has also been named Croatian Footballer of the Year a record thirteen times between 2007 and 2024. In addition to that, he was named the BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year for 2018.[9]
- ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Croatia" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
- ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 290. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
- ^ "Player Profile". Real Madrid CF. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ "Lȗka". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
Lȗka
- ^ "mȍdar". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
Módrić
- ^
- Tweedale, Alistair (17 September 2014). "Modest Modric Madrid's Superstar in the Shadows". WhoScored.Com. Retrieved 16 June 2018. "It is fair to say with Xavi's decline Modric is now ahead of him in the pecking order, and he, Kroos, Cesc Fàbregas and Andrea Pirlo are now arguably the best technical central midfielders on the planet at present, and some might even say that Modric is, or could soon be, leading the pack."
- Maw, James (2 December 2014). "'Ice cold' Luka Modric now Real Madrid's second most important Galactico. FourFourTwo. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- Balseiro, Jesús (29 May 2016). "Madrid season player review". Diario AS. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- Marcotti, Gabriele (14 November 2016). "Real Madrid star Luka Modric is ranked as the best central midfielder". ESPN FC. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- Bidwell, Nick (11 March 2017). "Europe's best midfielder? Luka Modric biography". World Soccer. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- Ronay, Barney (12 May 2017). "All hail Luka Modric, the maestro who makes Real Madrid's superstars tick". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- Madu, Zito (3 June 2017). "Luka Modrić was the most important player in Real Madrid's run to back-to-back Champions League titles". SB Nation. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- Kalvapalle, Rahul (4 June 2017). "Magisterial Modric leaves Juventus chasing shadows". Marca. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- Burton, Chris. (6 October 2017). "Luka Modric one of the best midfielder ever". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 June 2018. "Croatian playmaker Modric is yet to earn similar acclaim, amid a Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi duopoly of top individual awards, but his undoubted quality is not lost on those in Madrid and around the world."
- Sherman, Justin. (19 October 2017) "The making of Luka Modric from war-torn Croatia to the world's best midfielder". The Football Times. Retrieved 16 June 2018
- Buskulic, Ante; Tironi, Hrvoje Tironi. (18 November 2017). "How Luka Modric went from rejected youth player to the best midfielder in the world". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- Cartlidge, David. (15 December 2017). "FourFourTwo's 100 Best Football Players in the World 2017: No.6, Luka Modric". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- Brown, Euan (22 June 2018). "Luka Modric: It's time to give him a seat at the elite table". UK Blasting News. Retrieved 1 July 2018. "It's about time [Luka Modric] was recognised as one of the game's all-time greats".
- Nakrani, Sachin. (30 June 2018). "Luka Modric: the unassuming genius driving Croatia’s tilt at the World Cup". The Observer. Retrieved 1 July 2018
- Lea, Greg (13 June 2019). "Ranked! The 15 best central midfielders in the world". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- N/A (26 July 2019). "Ranked! The 101 greatest football players of the last 25 years: full list" (#19). FourFourTwo. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- 90min Staff (20 January 2020). "Luka Modric: The Most Dominant Midfielder of His Generation". 90min.com. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- HS, Shreyas (12 February 2021). "10 greatest midfielders of all time". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- Doyle, Mark; Garganese, Carlo (13 November 2021). "Modric, Xavi, Pirlo and the top 20 central midfielders in history". Goal.com. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- Mackenzie, Alasdair (8 April 2022). "Ranked! The 100 best players of the 21st Century" (#14). FourFourTwo. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- White, Mark (2022-present). "Ranked! The 100 best football players of all time" (#29). FourFourTwo. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- N/A (23 July 2024). "Ranking the top 25 men's soccer players of the 21st century" (#5). ESPN. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- N/A (9 December 2024). "The 50 Greatest Soccer Players of All Time" (#49). Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^
- Grim, David (22 November 2011). "The 10 Most Important Croatian Soccer Players of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- Moallim, Mohamed (29 December 2017). "Luka Modric is the best Croatian player in history". Squawka. Retrieved 1 July 2018. "There is no way of looking at this in which he (Modric) doesn't deserve the title as the best [Croatian] in history".
- Douglas, Steve (29 June 2018). "Modric the best Croatian player ever". The Fresno Bee. "Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic says teammate Luka Modric plays football "from a different planet" and is the best to have ever played for their national team".
- Associated Press (29 June 2018). "Modric From 'Different Planet', Says Rakitic". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2018. "The technically gifted Prosinecki has long been seen as Croatia's all-time best player, but even he has recently said Modric surpasses him... "If Robert Prosinecki said that, it has to be true because nobody knows about football more than Prosinecki. And I would agree with him completely," Rakitic said. "Not only that Luka is the best player ever, but he is a great person, a leader and we are following him".
- Delač, Hrvoje (11 July 2018). "The Real Madrid legend talks to Modrić every day: He is the best in the history of the Balkans"" (in Croatian). Večernji list. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- (13 July 2018). "Didulica hails Luka Modric as Croatia's greatest player: "He's like your little kid brother"". Diario AS. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- Cvijanović, Marko (24 August 2018). "Šuker: Luka Modrić is the greatest Croatian footballer of all time!" (in Croatian). Zadarski list. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- Pranggon, Hassan Mehedi (13 December 2022) "Luka Modrić: In a legendary league of his own". SB Nation. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- Hancock, Tom (14 August 2024). "The best Croatian players ever" (#1). FourFourTwo. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^ Thomas, Mark (19 December 2024). "Luka Modrić Leads Real Madrid to Intercontinental Glory, Secures Record 28th Trophy". The Dubrovnik Times. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Luka Modric beats Novak Djokovic to win Balkan athlete of year". Hindustan Times. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2023.