Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic says Croatia teammate Luka Modric should be a Ballon d'Or contender.

Rakitic also hopes the tournament's best player award will be handed over to a Croatian no matter the result of their clash with France.

"It has to be a Croat and our captain, Modric, deserves it," he told reporters on Friday.

"I'm sure FIFA will choose him. And other Croats will be in the best XI.

"But we don't want that, we only want the World Cup."