Luka Modric at 40 Becomes the Oldest Player to Assist at a World Cup: Croatia Through to the Knockouts

[Glenn84]

Croatia advanced to the round of 32 with a 2-1 win over Ghana on Saturday, with Luka Modric providing the assist for Nikola Vlasic's 83rd-minute winner to become the oldest player in World Cup history to register an assist, at 40 years and 291 days. Petar Sucic had opened the scoring with a strike from 27.4 metres, the second-farthest goal of the tournament so far, before Ghana equalised. Vlasic's late winner, set up by Modric's precise vision and weight of pass, sent Croatia into the knockouts and confirmed Scotland's elimination as the same result put Ghana's goal difference too low to qualify as a third-placed team.

Modric has now led Croatia to the knockout stage at three consecutive World Cups, a remarkable record for a 40-year-old playing his sixth and almost certainly final World Cup. His presence in this team is totemic: he still controls rhythm and tempo in ways that his younger teammates simply cannot replicate, and his reading of the game remains elite even as his physical recovery between matches requires careful management. Croatia face Portugal in Toronto on July 2 in what is one of the round of 32's most intriguing matchups.

Ghana exit the tournament despite showing moments of genuine quality throughout the group stage. The 4-2 opener against England in the first game showcased what they can produce when the energy is right but inconsistency across the three games was ultimately their downfall. Their third-placed position with a goal difference of zero was not enough to make the best third-placed team cut when other groups produced more decisive results.

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