Is Luka Modric Retiring From Croatia?

Update, September 2026: Luka Modric is not retiring from Croatia. He ended weeks of speculation on September 5, 2026, confirming to new head coach Slaven Bilić that he remains available for selection — under a coach he last played for nearly a decade and a half ago. The account below traces how that question opened, and what turned out to be true and false along the way.

Croatia’s 2026 World Cup ended the way a lot of people expected it might: in the Round of 32, against Portugal, with Luka Modric on the pitch at 40 years old and no announcement waiting for him afterward. For weeks, that silence held. He hadn’t said a word about what came next — but somebody else had claimed to know the answer.

How did Modric’s World Cup end?

Croatia lost 2-1 to Portugal in the Round of 32. It was Modric’s fourth World Cup as Croatia’s talisman, a run that took him from the 2018 final to a third-place finish in 2022 and now a last-32 exit at 40 — the oldest outfield starter at the entire tournament. There was no tearful farewell speech, no confirmed final cap. Just a result, and silence on what it means for his international career.

Has Modric said anything about retiring?

He ended up saying the opposite. For weeks after the Portugal defeat, reporters and Croatian media pressed the question repeatedly and got nothing on the record — not a confirmation, not a denial, not even a timeline. Then, on September 5, 2026, that silence broke: Modric told new head coach Slaven Bilić and HNS president Marijan Kustić directly that he remains available for selection. Bilić’s own words captured the moment: “Of course I’m delighted by Luka’s decision… I’m especially pleased that after 14 years we’ll be working together again.”

So where did the retirement claim come from?

Italian reporting, not Modric himself — and it turned out to be wrong. Journalist Andrea Ramazzotti had reported that Modric privately decided to end his Croatia career while extending his contract at AC Milan for another season, continuing at club level while stepping away from the national team. The AC Milan extension, to June 2027, was real — signed July 23, 2026. The retirement half of the claim wasn’t.

Why does the club decision matter here?

It still matters, just not the way the original report framed it. Modric locking in another season at AC Milan wasn’t a signal he was stepping away from Croatia — he simply wasn’t choosing between the two. Both commitments now run in parallel: a club season through mid-2027, and a return to international duty under a coach who last managed him nearly a decade and a half ago.

What changed to bring Modric back?

A coaching change, mainly. Zlatko Dalić left the Croatia job after the Portugal exit, ending a nine-year run in charge. The federation turned to Slaven Bilić, appointed July 13, 2026, for a second spell as Croatia coach — his first was 2006 to 2012. That reunion appears to have been the deciding factor: Modric committing to play for a coach he already has history with, rather than starting fresh under an unfamiliar appointment.

What’s actually certain now?

That Modric is playing on, at least through this Nations League cycle. He’s in Croatia’s Group A3 squad alongside Czechia, Spain and England, with matches at Czechia on September 26, away to Spain on September 29, and a home fixture against England on October 3 — the latter played behind closed doors under a UEFA sanction stemming from crowd trouble during the 2025 Nations League quarter-final against France. Modric turns 41 on September 9, 2026, and nothing in his past comments suggests a fifth World Cup is on the table — but the international retirement question that dominated his summer is, for now, closed. Robert Lewandowski is still sitting in the kind of silence Modric just broke. It’s a different shape of resolution than Marcos Llorente’s exit from Spain duty the same week — Llorente walked away, Modric stayed, and both questions closed within days of each other.