Modric Leads Croatia's World Cup 2022 Push at 40
Croatia head to world cup 2022 with Luka Modric, now 40, still central to Zlatko Dalic’s plans and the side built around a veteran core. They qualified by beating the Faroe Islands last November, and the path to the tournament now runs through a group that will test how far that experience can carry them.
Dalic has already shifted his thinking once. After Croatia beat the Faroe Islands, he said: "I will never try to play with three at the back again." He then tried that shape in March friendlies against Colombia and Brazil, beating Colombia 2-1 and losing 1-3 to Brazil, before moving back toward a back four for the World Cup.
Luka Modric and Croatia's core
Modric remains the reference point. He scored his 29th international goal in a warm-up against Slovenia and should pass the 200-cap mark in North America. Mateo Kovacic, 32, Ivan Perisic, 37, and Andrej Kramaric, who is turning 35, keep Croatia among the oldest teams at the tournament.
That age profile is the real trade-off in Dalic’s squad. Croatia are leaning on players who have already carried them to a silver medal in Russia and a bronze in Qatar, but the same core now has to hold up across three group matches and a tournament that begins on 11 June.
Dalic, Gvardiol and the back four
The shape is likely to be a back four, with Croatia set to line up in either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1. Josko Gvardiol and Kovacic are back from injury and remain important to the plan, while Luka Vuskovic offers another option at centre-back as a ball-playing defender who is also dominant in the air.
Dalic has managed Croatia for nine years and his contract ends with this World Cup. When asked recently about that deal, he said: "Leave me in peace to do my job," and added, "I’m not going to sign an extension if anyone is forcing me to decide now."
England, Panama and Ghana
Croatia's group brings England in Dallas on 17 June at 3pm local time, Panama in Toronto on 23 June at 7pm local time, and Ghana in Philadelphia on 27 June at 5pm local time. The schedule gives Dalic little room to hide the age question or the tactical one: whether this group still has the legs to match the standard it set in its last two World Cups.
For Modric, the tournament offers one more run as the team around which Croatia have been built for most of his international career. For Dalic, it is a chance to prove that the veteran core and the back-four switch can still carry Croatia through another difficult summer.
