Due to his club , and national team performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup . where also received the Golden Ball , in August and September Modrić won the UEFA Men 's Player of the Year Award and The Best FIFA Men 's Player Award , while in December , he added the Ballon d'Or to his personal tally , making the first time since 2008 and 2014 that the awards were not won by Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo , which was seen in the media as an end to their decade-long triumphant rivalry . Furthermore , besides becoming the first Croatian player to win these awards , Modrić was the first player to win both the World Cup Golden Ball and the UEFA Men 's Player of the Year Award in the same year since Ronaldo in 1998 , and the World Cup Golden Ball and the Best FIFA Men 's Player of the Year Award after Romário in 1994 . Additionally , he is the first player to win the awards from the former SFR Yugoslavia territory , the first footballer to win the Ballon d'Or from Eastern Europe after Andriy Shevchenko in 2004 , and the tenth player from Real Madrid to capture the trophy . He also won the IFFHS World 's Best Playmaker award , and was included in the FIFA World XI for the fourth time , and UEFA Team of the Year for the third time in his career
Ballon d'Or
2018 Ballon d'Or
Luka Modrić