{"id":633608,"date":"2026-04-28T07:07:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/633608\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:07:15","slug":"croatia-soccer-star-undergoes-surgery-weeks-before-his-fifth-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/633608\/","title":{"rendered":"Croatia Soccer Star Undergoes Surgery, Weeks Before His Fifth World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Luka Modric has undergone successful surgery after fracturing his left cheekbone, the Croatian Football Federation said on Monday, weeks before the 40-year-old\u00a0AC Milan midfielder is\u00a0due to participate in his fifth\u00a0World Cup.<\/p>\n

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Modric sustained\u00a0the injury\u00a0following\u00a0a clash of heads\u00a0with\u00a0Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli\u00a0during\u00a0Sunday’s 0-0\u00a0Serie A\u00a0draw at the San Siro. He left the field with 10 minutes left.<\/p>\n

Although clearly in pain, Modric remained on the bench until the end of the game without receiving medical treatment.<\/p>\n

The Croatian federation said national medical staff remained in contact with Modric, who captains the side, as well as his club.<\/p>\n

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“I’ve been talking to Luka, and wished him a successful surgery and a quality and speedy recovery,” Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“I am convinced that he will do everything to be ready for the\u00a0World Cup, and we’ll provide full support.<\/p>\n

“I am confident that the recovery will go according to plan and that Luka, as team captain, will lead us at another major competition this summer.”<\/p>\n

Milan are third in the standings, 12 points behind leaders Inter Milan with four games remaining, and Modric is doubtful to take any part in their season run-in. A protective mask may be needed should he recover in time for the\u00a0World Cup.<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, starts on June 11, and Croatia will face England, Ghana and Panama in Group L.<\/p>\n

Entertainment UpdatesThis article<\/a> originally appeared on HuffPost. Support fearless, unflinching journalism that holds power accountable and relentlessly pursues the truth. Become a HuffPost member today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost. Luka Modric has undergone successful surgery after fracturing his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[13368,49,48,24298,236990,588,236991,14194,41634,23975,2679,91037,93959,1072,168901,561,82,178932],"class_list":["post-633608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ac-milan","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-croatia","tag-croatian-football-federation","tag-england","tag-fifth-world-cup","tag-ghana","tag-huffpost","tag-inter-milan","tag-juventus","tag-luka-modric","tag-manuel-locatelli","tag-mexico","tag-panama","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-the-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}