Croatia captain Luka Modric believes his side were the better team in the World Cup final against France, but admitted: "Sometimes the better teams don't win." Like Oliver Kahn, Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi before him, Modric lost the game but was then awarded the Golden Ball for being the tournament's best player.

The midfield magician told reporters he was "proud to have received the award for myself" but wanted "to win a trophy with Croatia". France were comfortable 4-2 winners in the end, but were very fortunate to have a 2-1 lead at the interval and did not get on top of Croatia until Paul Pogba added a superb third in the 59th minute.