Luka Modric (Croatia) and Robert Lewandowski (Poland) have made a dismal exit from their last UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2024).
On the 26th (Korean time), Slovenia drew a 0-0 draw with England, thereby eliminating Croatia’s chance of advancing to the round of 16.
Slovenia secured third place in Group C with 3 draws (3 points, goal difference 0). Slovenia ensured at least a fourth-place finish among the six third-place teams in the groups, surpassing already eliminated Hungary (3 points, goal difference -3) and Croatia (2 points), thereby qualifying for the round of 16.
On the other hand, Croatia, who finished with 2 draws and 1 loss in the group stage, fell short of advancing to the round of 16. Considering Croatia’s achievements of reaching the runner-up in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the semifinals in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, their performance in this tournament is below expectations.
With Croatia’s elimination, Modric also concluded his last Euro appearance. Considering Modric’s age at 39 this year, it seems unlikely that he will participate in the Euro scheduled to be held four years later.
Modric led Croatia to the final in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, earning the Ballon d’Or, awarded to the world’s best player. Since then, he has continued to excel as a key player for both his club and national team, showcasing world-class talent.
Since 2018, Modric has experienced two UEFA Champions League titles with Real Madrid, and two La Liga titles. He also played a key role in Croatia’s third-place finish in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
In this tournament, Modric started all three matches and scored a goal. However, Croatia couldn’t overcome the challenge of being grouped with strong teams like Spain and Italy, resulting in their early elimination.
Striker Lewandowski, who once closely pursued Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, also failed to advance beyond the group stage.
Lewandowski received acclaim as the world’s best striker after leading Bayern Munich to a treble in the 2019-20 season with 55 goals in 47 matches. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ballon d’Or ceremony was not held at that time, causing Lewandowski to miss out on the award.
Lewandowski, once regarded as one of the best strikers, seems to shrink when wearing the national team uniform. He has participated in Euro four times, with reaching the quarterfinals in Euro 2016 being his best achievement. However, apart from that, he has tasted the bitterness of group stage eliminations on all other occasions, and this time was no different.
Lewandowski, who participated in this tournament with an injury, watched Poland’s 1-2 defeat from the bench in the first match against the Netherlands. He was substituted in the second half of the subsequent match against Austria, but couldn’t prevent the 1-3 defeat and eventual elimination. In the third group match against France, he started and scored a goal from a penalty kick, but couldn’t find a reason to smile.