Real Madrid fans know all about Luka Modric and what he adds to their team. He may not grab the headlines every week like Ronaldo does but he is regarded as one of the most important players for his team.

His national team Croatia are also benefitting from the unique skills that Modric brings, as was clearly evident as Croatia put Argentina to the sword in a 3-0 win. Modric rounded his performance off with a top quality goal but he did so much more in the game against one of the biggest teams in the world. Even Lionel Messi failed to light up a rather poor Argentina team. The Argentinian goalkeeper Willy Caballero made a catastrophic mistake and his team never looked like they were going to turn the fixture around.

Croatia are through to the next round

Croatia have now guaranteed their progress into the next round, with one Group D game still remaining. Modric’s former team mate Alvaro Arbeloa has stated that Modric is the world’s best number 10 and looking at his current level, you cannot really argue with him.

Where Messi looked lost and lonely, Modric controlled the game and spurred his team on. The Real Madrid midfielder looked composed and calm as he dictated play and he played similarly well in the 2-0 victory against Nigeria. Croatia look like they have real team cohesion, Argentina looked like they had never played football together before.

All eyes on Modric

Now the eyes of the world are on Croatia and Modric is doing his reputation no harm at all. Tottenham Hotspurs fans will be ruing the day that they sold the player, although few would have predicted that he would go on to become a star of this magnitude. He has scored two goals already and he does not look like he will stop there.

Before the tournament, there was talk over whether Mo Salah could have a great World Cup and break into the Ballon d’Or top candidates but Salah’s injury inflicted by Modric’s club team mate Ramos hampered his World Cup. With Ronaldo and Messi close to reaching the twilight of the careers, there is an opportunity for new stars to come into the reckoning for the top individual accolades. Modric is looking like a player that is at the top of his game and should be another name in the mix for the Ballon d’Or. Of course, a certain Ronaldo will be looking to build on his haul of four goals in the tournament.