MOSCOW – Croatia captain Luka Modric won the Golden Ball award for the World Cup’s best player despite being on the losing side to France in a thrilling final in Moscow on Sunday.
Modric was named Man-of-the-Match three times in Croatia’s seven games in Russia, but even the Real Madrid midfielder was powerless to stop France’s firepower and the rise of 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward won the young player of the tournament award after scoring his fourth goal of the competition in the final, which France won 4-2.
Belgium captain Eden Hazard finished second in the running for the Golden Ball, with France’s Antoine Griezmann, who also scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the final, coming third.
Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper.
Despite Griezmann and Mbappé getting on the score-sheet, England’s Harry Kane claimed the Golden Boot for his six goals.
The Tottenham star topped the chart by two goals ahead of a group including Griezmann and Mbappé.
Kane is the first England player to win the coveted prize since Gary Lineker 32 years ago.
🥉Antoine GRIEZMANN ( #FRA) #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/KQSRiwUznh
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2018
He scored twice against Tunisia in England’s first match in Russia, and then bagged a hat trick in a 6-1 romp against Panama.
Manager Gareth Southgate rested Kane for the third group game against Belgium, but the captain returned to score from the penalty spot against Colombia in the last-16.
He failed to add to his tally in England’s next three games – the 2-0 quarter-final win over Sweden, the 2-1 semi-final loss to Croatia nor the 2-0 third-place playoff defeat by Belgium.
Mbappé was awarded the Fifa Young Player of the Tournament.
World Cup Top Scorers
6 goals: Harry Kane (England)
4 goals: Denis Cheryshev (Russia), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Antoine Griezmann (France), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Kylian Mbappé (France)
3 goals: Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Diego Costa (Spain), Artem Dzyuba (Russia), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Mario Mandzukic (Croatia), Yerry Mina (Colombia), Ivan Perisic (Croatia)