Luka Modric set for another England test after 11 October 2006
luka modric is set for another match against England, nearly 20 years after he first faced them in Zagreb on 11 October 2006. Croatia won that European Championship qualifier 2-0, and Modric played the full match after already winning 11 caps by then.
That first meeting launched a run of nine matches between Croatia and England in Modric’s era, with the midfielder missing only one because of a broken fibula. England beat Croatia 5-1 in 2009 in the match he sat out, which is the only gap in a stretch that has kept him at the center of the fixture.
Modric’s Zagreb debut
Modric’s first Croatia appearance came in a friendly in 2006, when Lionel Messi scored his debut goal for Argentina. By the time England arrived in Zagreb later that year, he had already played his way into the side and stayed on the pitch for all 90 minutes as Croatia controlled the qualifier.
The date still stands out because it marked the start of a long England thread for him. Tony Blair was British prime minister, Gary Neville and Paul Robinson were in the England lineup, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat image appeared on the boards during the match.
England and Croatia repeated
England and Croatia met again at Wembley a year later in the game described as the infamous wally with a brolly match. Slaven Bilic led Croatia to that win, adding another sharp turn to a rivalry that kept returning to Modric rather than moving past him.
Since that first clash in October 2006, England have played Croatia eight more times, and Modric has missed only one of those matches. The pattern says as much about his durability as it does about the fixture itself: he has remained a constant while coaches and lineups around him have changed.
Modric against England again
The new meeting carries the same basic frame as the first one, only with far more miles on Modric’s legs and far more history behind him. He is still the Croatia midfielder at the center of the story, and England remain the opponent that has followed him through nearly two decades of international football.
For Croatia, the value is simple: one player has been present through every major England chapter since 2006 except the 2009 loss, and that continuity is now part of the matchup itself. For readers tracking the rivalry, the next appearance is not a reset but another turn in a sequence that started in Zagreb on 11 October 2006.
