Modric thanks Spain fans as Bilic slams Croatia display

Spain thrashed Croatia 4-1 in Seville, but the evening belonged to a substitute who barely touched the ball.

Lamine Yamal opened the scoring after just seventy seconds, and by the time Luka Modric came on in the 81st minute the result was long settled. The 41-year-old, capped for two decades at the highest level, walked onto the pitch to a standing ovation from the home crowd. Modric later posted on Instagram to thank Spanish supporters for the welcome.

Dion Beljo had levelled for Croatia before Marc Pubill restored Spain's lead at 2-1. Yamal added a second after the break and Nico Williams, scoring minutes after Modric's introduction, made it 4-1. The match doubled as a celebration for the hosts, who showed off the World Cup trophy to their own fans for the first time.

Slaven Bilic had no interest in the party. "We can't play here with so little aggression. We didn't come here to be part of Spain's celebration," the head coach said afterwards. He conceded the gap in class: "But we gave away too much space. This is a poor result, we didn't make a good impression. Of course it's easy to look for excuses. They're the best team in the world, but you can't defend like that against anyone, let alone them. We punish that kind of space ourselves when we're given it, never mind them. It didn't look good."

Croatian media reacted with some surprise to the criticism, noting that Bilic himself had rested several first-choice players for the fixture.

Yamal, now on four goals for Spain since switching allegiance in March 2026, has been the story of Spanish football all month — from breaking Mbappe's Champions League record for Barcelona to declaring himself and Mbappe the two contenders for the Ballon d'Or. A double against Croatia in front of a crowd unveiling the World Cup does little to quiet that conversation.