Both born in 1985, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are in the group of players who have played the most in World Cup history and own a massive collection of Champions League titles. They are preparing to reunite in a match that could mark the end of one of the two legends.
For Modric, this is almost certainly the last World Cup. Coach Zlatko Dalic confirmed that this veteran midfielder is trying his best to close his journey at the tournament with a beautiful farewell.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has not given up his dream. Although 41 years old, the Portuguese superstar still nurtures the hope of participating in the 2030 World Cup co-hosted by his home country. That seemingly impossible thing continues to be turned into a new goal in Ronaldo's career.
Portugal finishing second in Group K after draws against DRC and Colombia, interspersed with a 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan, forced them to face Croatia right from the round of 32.
On the other side, Croatia also went through a difficult journey. After a 2-4 defeat to England in the opening match, Dalic's team successively defeated Panama and Ghana to win second place in Group L.
Modric also started the tournament unsuccessfully. He fouled leading to a penalty in the match against England and was substituted after about an hour of play. However, this midfielder gradually regained his form, before assisting from a corner kick for Nikola Vlasic to score the decisive goal to help Croatia defeat Ghana.
While Modric gradually regained his form match by match, Ronaldo went through the group stage with an unstable performance. The Portuguese captain played fully in the draw against the DRC and had a lackluster performance against Colombia. However, a double against Uzbekistan helped him become the first player to score in six different World Cups.
Ronaldo currently owns 145 goals for the national team, but what is missing in his illustrious career is a goal in the World Cup knockout round. That is still a rare "gap" in the collection of achievements of the Portuguese striker.
If he scores against Croatia, it will be a special milestone for Ronaldo, and at the same time open up opportunities to help Portugal improve their performance at the World Cup after many years of not meeting expectations since reaching the semi-finals in 2006.
Conversely, Modric has built up the position of a World Cup legend. He won the 2018 World Cup Golden Ball after bringing Croatia to the final and continued to contribute to helping the team win third place at the 2022 World Cup.
Modric and Ronaldo once had 6 years playing side by side at Real Madrid, both winning four Champions League titles and creating one of the most successful couples in the history of the Royal Spanish team.
Ronaldo left Real Madrid in 2018 to join Juventus before successively playing for Manchester United and Al-Nassr. Meanwhile, Modric stayed at the Bernabeu for another 7 years, winning two more Champions League titles before leaving the team.
Persistence is the biggest common point between these two legends. Ronaldo has made 25 appearances at the World Cup, and Modric has 22 matches. They have played together 222 matches for Real Madrid and faced each other 10 times at the national team and club levels, but have never faced each other at the World Cup.
In most previous encounters, Ronaldo was the one who enjoyed the joy of victory. If that scenario is repeated in Toronto, the World Cup journey of the Croatian legend will officially end. Conversely, if Croatia wins, the dream of conquering the World Cup trophy that Ronaldo has pursued for more than two decades may also end forever.
