Ivan Rakitic Still Unable to Watch Croatia’s 2018 World Cup Final Loss

Ivan Rakitic has admitted he still cannot bring himself to watch Croatia’s 2018 World Cup final defeat, eight years after France beat the Vatreni 4-2 in Moscow. The former Croatia midfielder played every minute at Luzhniki Stadium as his country reached the biggest match in its football history, but the loss remains a painful one.

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Rakitic was speaking at a Meet, Greet & Table Football promotional appearance in Seville before Croatia’s meeting with Spain at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. He said the final remains so difficult to revisit that he has not watched any footage from it.

“It was hard,” Rakitic said. “I have not seen one clip of that final since then. If it were shown now, I would look away.”

Croatia had produced a remarkable route to the final, recovering in each of their three knockout ties before facing France. Although the disappointment of missing the game’s biggest international trophy has endured, Rakitic said the squad quickly recognised the scale of what it had achieved.

He said that, within 10 minutes of the final whistle, there was also enormous pride among the players. Croatia, with a population below four million, had earned worldwide admiration during the tournament, including from supporters in France. Rakitic added that messages arrived from across the world, even if he would still rather have lifted the World Cup.

Croatia now return to competitive action seeking top spot in Nations League Group A3. Slaven Bilic’s team opened the group with a 2-1 victory over Czechia and can move above Spain with three points in Andalusia.

The Spain match begins a demanding stretch for the Vatreni, who have two further fixtures to play before the current international window concludes.