Modric celebrates victory for Croatia over Argentina on a night when they made the most of their abundance of midfield talent

In Croatia, they still rue the one that got away. In their first World Cup in 1998, the “golden generation” of Robert Prosinecki, Zvonimir Boban and Davor Suker reached the semi-final, only to lose to France in agonising circumstances. Twenty years on, after a resounding victory over Argentina last night, their second “golden generation” is dreaming of glory.

“When you look on the teamsheet, we have better players than the previous time 20 years ago,” Dejan Lovren, the Liverpool defender, said on the way out of the stadium in Nizhny Novgorod last night. “It doesn’t mean anything if we don’t perform well, but if we play all through the tournament like we did today, I believe we can go far.”

Lovren’s comparison of the two