According to MilanNews.it, Modric has made 206 appearances for Croatia, just one shy of Messi's national team appearance record. He is expected to equal and surpass Messi's record during the November international break. Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record with 234 national team appearances.

The ranking of national team appearances is as follows: 234, Ronaldo (Portugal); 207, Messi (Argentina); 206, Modric (Croatia); 202, Bader Al-Mutawa (Kuwait); 195, Soh Chin Ann (Malaysia); 193, Ahmed Kano (Oman) and Hassan Al-Haydos (Qatar); 184, Ahmed Hassan (Egypt); 182, Andrés Guardado (Mexico); 180, Sergio Ramos (Spain).

Modric spoke to Sportske Novosti after Croatia's loss to Spain. He stated: "We all agree that this game was much better than the one against England. The result didn't go our way; we should have at least drawn. If Matanovic had scored, the score would have been 2–0... But we showed things in this game that were missing against England. Spain punished us for our mistakes. Still, we can be satisfied with the team's attitude and cohesion. Moving forward, this feeling is better."

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