Luka Modric will become the fourth male footballer to earn 200 international caps for Croatia during a group stage match against Panama on June 23 in Toronto. He joins Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa in this exclusive club.
At 40 years old, this marks Modric's fifth World Cup appearance since his debut in 2006. He currently holds 199 caps and 29 goals.
Modric previously led Croatia to the World Cup final in 2018, earning the Golden Ball and the Ballon d’Or that year, breaking the decade-long dominance of Ronaldo and Messi. In 2022, he guided Croatia to a third-place finish.
Joining this milestone underscores the rarity of reaching 200 caps for a men’s national team. Croatia, with a population of about 3.8 million, boasts Modric as one of its most celebrated athletes. As captain, he remains vital to Croatia's tactics entering the expanded 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.