Luka Modric: English media underestimated Croatia in World Cup semi finals

Modric, whose team initially went 1-0 down to England thanks to a sublime free kick by Kieran Trippier in the fifth minute, accused the English press of showing a lack of respect to Croatia.

Modric told ITV after the match: "People were talking … English journalists, pundits from television. They underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake."

Having gone into extra time and penalties in their previous two games ahead of Wednesday's semi-final, Modric said there was an assumption that the Croatian team would be tired, giving England the advantage.

He said: "All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying: ‘OK, today we will see who will be tired.’ They should be more humble and respect their opponents more.

"We showed again that we were not tired – we dominated the game mentally and physically."

Croatia equalised in the 68th minute, thanks to a goal by Ivan Perisic who profited on some weak defensive work by England, who looked below-par in the second half.

Modric said: “We should have killed the game even before extra time. This is an amazing achievement for us – it’s a dream come true after such a long time. We are in the final and that is the biggest success in Croatia history. We have to be proud.”

Croatia will take on France in the final on Sunday.