New Delhi: Croatia suffered a 2-4 loss early Thursday at the hands of a lethal English side in one of the most entertaining games of the initial round of fixtures at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, apart from action around the ball, eagle-eyed fans noticed something else too—Croatia icon Luka Modric’s unique jersey.
Modric, who finished as a runner-up with his team in Russia in 2018, was seen sporting a unique jersey, distinct from other players on the pitch, including his own teammates.
His kit for the game featured two unique patches, representing a novel tradition that FIFA has started with this year’s World Cup. While a few other players at the event also carry one or the other badge, midfield maestro Modric, winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or in 2018, is a part of an incredibly small circle of players who wear two of the exclusive sleeve patches.
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Legacy and performance
One of them is the FIFA Legacy Patch, an insignia introduced by FIFA for the 2026 World Cup to honour tournament veterans. The honour is reserved for players who have been named across five or more World Cup squads in the course of their careers. Modric, who is playing in his fifth tournament, sits in an elite club with other legends, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manuel Neuer and Yuto Nagatomo.
The other patch adorning the Croatia captain’s sleeve is the Golden Ball Winner Patch, an individual performance honour that celebrates Modric’s display at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia that earned him the “Player of the Tournament” award. Also introduced by FIFA in the 2026 edition, this patch is a reminder of past individual brilliance at football’s showpiece event.
The only other player to wear these two exact badges is football legend Lionel Messi.
Modric’s shirt is a rare sight because it means that not only is the player an enduring legend of the game who has featured in nearly half a dozen editions of the World Cup, but he is also one who has lit up football’s highest stage with individual flair and brilliance in the editions gone by.
In the 2026 World Cup, Modric’s Croatia were drawn in Group L, widely regarded as one of the “Groups of Death” of the tournament, also featuring England, Ghana, and Panama. Modric’s men next face Panama on June 24, before squaring off against a resilient Ghana on June 28.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)