The Croatia midfielder Luka Modrić was named the Best FIFA Footballer of the Year at a London ceremony and became the first player other than Ronaldo and Messi to win since Kaka in 2007.
The 33-year-old Modrić won the Champions League for the third time in a row with his club, Real Madrid, before leading Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final and during his speech Modrić acknowledged both his club and national team achievements.
“This trophy is not just mine, it’s for all my Real Madrid team-mates, for all my team-mates from the Croatia national team, for all the coaches that I have played for” Modrić said. He also added: “it’s a great honor and a beautiful feeling to stand here with this amazing trophy”.
The award was decided by national team coaches and captains, select members of the media and online voting. Luka Modrić was chosen the best of the year with 29.05 % of the votes ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (19.08 %) and Mo Salah (11.23 %).
