Croatia announces their 26-player World Cup team and finalizes decisions on Modric and Gvardiol.
Croatia has announced their official 26-man squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, where they will kick off by playing against England.
On Monday, May 18, the 2018 finalists confirmed their team for the tournament in North America. The squad includes several well-known current and former Premier League players. There was some concern about 40-year-old Luka Modric, who plays for AC Milan and broke his cheekbone last month.
Another question mark was over Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol. He missed a lot of the second half of the season because of a broken leg but made his first start since January in a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on May 13.
Despite these worries, head coach Zlatko Dalic has chosen both players. Gvardiol is one of the seven defenders in the squad, and Modric, who helped Croatia reach the World Cup final in 2018 and semi-finals in 2022, is in the squad too, even after having surgery. This will be Modric’s fifth World Cup.
About Modric, the coach said, “He’s training with a face mask and doing well. Maybe the break helped him. We’ll see how he is, but I believe he’ll be in good shape.”
On Gvardiol, he said, “We hope he’ll be ready to play and that he’ll be a big help for us in the US.”
Other England-based players in the squad are Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic and Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur. Former Spurs winger Ivan Perisic, now at PSG, and Nikola Vlasic, who used to play for Everton and West Ham and now plays for Torino, also made the team.
Ante Budimir, who plays for Osasuna in La Liga and is the league’s third-highest scorer, is also on the squad.
Croatia will face England on June 17, then Panama on June 24, and Ghana on June 27.
Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards