Like Oliver Kahn, Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi before him, Modric lost the game but was then awarded the Golden Ball for being the tournamentâs best player.
The 32-year-old midfield magician told reporters he was âproud to have received the award for myselfâ but wanted âto win a trophy with Croatiaâ.
France were comfortable 4-2 winners in the end, but were very fortunate to have a 2-1 lead at the interval and did not get on top of Croatia until Paul Pogba added a superb third in the 59th minute.
Asked if he thought Croatia had been unlucky, Modric said: âYeah, I think so. Everyone has the same feeling that we played well.
âI think we were the better team but sometimes better teams donât win.â
The Real Madrid star thought Franceâs controversial second goal in the 38th minute was âthe turning pointâ, as they were in the ascendancy after Ivan Perisicâs fine strike had cancelled out Mario Mandzukicâs own goal.
France regained their lead when referee Nestor Pitana used an on-field video review to give them a penalty for a Perisic handball. The ball clearly struck his hand, and was stopped from crossing Croatiaâs goalmouth, but he had no time to react when Blaise Matuidi missed an attempted flick-on from an Antoine Griezmann corner.
It looked harsh and Croatiaâs players were incensed, with their moods not improved by Griezmannâs cool penalty.
âWe were surprised when it was given, especially because the foul he gave for the first goal (which came when Mandzukic flicked Griezmannâs free-kick into his own net) wasnât a foul in my opinion and then we recovered from that,â said Modric.
âWe played well and played the best football and he gives a penalty to them. It kills you. Itâs not easy to keep coming back.
âBut we tried, we fought until the end and we have to be proud of what we did and how we played. But in the end it wasnât enough to win it.â
While Modric was given the Golden Ball, Griezmann got a winnersâ medal and his third man-of-the-match award at this tournament.
The 27-year-old said: âI donât really realise what is happened yet â the World Cup is a lot.
âBut Iâm so proud of this team, the players, the staff. We were really united as a group. We did something incredible, we made history and we are going to enjoy it.â
The Atletico Madrid striker admitted that he did not initially know why the referee had gone to VAR for the Perisic incident, which was initially given as a goal-kick.
âI tried to stay to the side a bit and then I did my normal routine,â said Griezmann.
âI pretended it was a normal league match, stayed calm, concentrated. I did the same trick I normally do for a penalty and itâs working.â
Asked about the diverse nature of Franceâs World Cup squad, which draws on talent from throughout the French-speaking world, Griezmann said: âThatâs the France we love, thatâs it. There are different origins but weâre all united.
âItâs the same in our team, there are many players who come from different backgrounds but we all feel the same, we all play for the same jersey, the cockerel, we give everything we have for our country and itâs beautiful.â