{"id":37108,"date":"2026-03-10T18:28:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/37108\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T18:28:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:28:30","slug":"why-is-luka-modric-not-starting-for-croatia-vs-faroe-islands-in-2026-world-cup-qualifiers-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/37108\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Luka Modric not starting for Croatia vs Faroe Islands in 2026 World Cup Qualifiers today?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Croatia look to extend their strong run in the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/world-cup-qualifiers\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">World Cup Qualifiers<\/a> after back-to-back wins over Gibraltar and the Czech Republic. On Friday, they visit the Faroe Islands, but the big talking point is Luka Modric\u2019s absence from the starting lineup.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">After winning their first two group matches, Croatia approach their third game in control of the group. Head coach Zlatko Dalic has decided to rest <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/luka-modric\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Modric<\/a> at the start for tactical reasons, though the AC Milan midfielder is expected to feature in the second half.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Modric came off the bench in the 7\u20130 win over Gibraltar before starting and scoring in the 5\u20131 victory against the Czech Republic. Against the Faroe Islands, however, midfield duties will fall to Inter Milan\u2019s Petar Sucic and Atalanta\u2019s Mario Pasalic.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Another storyline is the debut of 24-year-old Toni Fruk. The HNK Rijeka midfielder had previously been called up to the squad but will make his first appearance for the national team in this qualifier.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/modric-croatia-1024x576-1024x576.webp.webp\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" alt=\"Luka Modric will be on the bench for today\u2019s game against Faroe Islands. (Srdjan Stevanovic\/Getty Images)\" class=\"h-auto\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-center mt-5 text-[14px] leading-[20px] font-normal\">Luka Modric will be on the bench for today\u2019s game against Faroe Islands. (Srdjan Stevanovic\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Croatia\u2019s confirmed lineup<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/croatia\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Croatia<\/a> enter the qualifier with three key absences, as Josip Stanisic, Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic are sidelined through injury, forcing head coach Dalic to make changes in defense.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Not Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid veteran Luka Modric reveals his pick for the greatest player of all time\" href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/soccer\/not-cristiano-ronaldo-real-madrid-veteran-luka-modric-reveals-his-pick-for-the-greatest-player-of-all-time\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"article-also-read-embed\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-square max-w-[100px] m-[10px] md:m-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/BUS_20250525_BUS_404804_luka-modric.webp&#038;width=200&#038;height=200.webp\" alt=\"Not Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid veteran Luka Modric reveals his pick for the greatest player of all time\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-secondary my-[13px] uppercase text-alsoReadSeeAlso bg-alsoReadSeeAlsoBackground alsoReadSeeAlso w-fit\">see also<\/p>\n<p class=\"w-full line-clamp-3 md:line-clamp-2 text-alsoReadEmbedTitle font-primary alsoReadLink\">Not Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid veteran Luka Modric reveals his pick for the greatest player of all time<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"break-word\">The confirmed starting XI to face the Faroe Islands is: Dominik Livakovic; Kristijan Jakic, Marin Pongracic, Duje Caleta-Car, Borna Sosa; Mario Pasalic, Petar Sucic, Lovro Majer, Andrej Kramaric, Toni Fruk; Ante Budimir.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"leading-none\" href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/staff\/gtaina\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gianni-80x80.webp.webp\" alt=\"Gianni Taina\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"rounded-full\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-[14px] leading-[20px] min-h-[72px] md:min-h-[52px] mt-[10px] font-authorSignatureDescription hidden md:block\">Gianni Taina is a bilingual journalist, fluent in English and Spanish, with a specialization in soccer, the NBA, and tennis. He began his professional career in 2020 with Mundo Deportivo US, where he first established himself as a writer. Throughout his career, Gianni has covered major sports events such as the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the NBA Finals, and Grand Slam tournaments like the French Open. His ability to report on real-time events and perform well under pressure has made him a valuable member of a top-tier team of journalists. In 2024, he joined Bolavip US, where he now covers a wide range of sports, including European soccer, MLS, and the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Croatia look to extend their strong run in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers after back-to-back wins over Gibraltar&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[43,9586,5259],"class_list":["post-37108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faroe-islands","tag-faroe-islands","tag-luka-modric","tag-world-cup-qualifiers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116206299730340129","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}