With the 2018 FIFA World Cup entering its final stage, the whole world is eagerly waiting for the much-awaited grand finale between a formidable France and a clinical Croatia. Besides the mouth-watering clash to clinch the most coveted crown in world football, all eyes will be on the best individual performer of the quadrennial tournament or the Golden Ball award winner. 

It’s been a World Cup of upsets and underdogs. Most of the big guns fell silent while a slew of Davids won their respective battles against Goliaths. However, two names have emerged as the hot favorites, and the possible contenders for the Golden Ball award and the outcome of the final may well pick one of the two, who will be locking horns with each other in the title clash.

He can be called the Phantom of this World Cup as he has been an invisible force behind France’s incredible journey to the final. The diminutive, soft-spoken and mild-mannered workhorse in the French midfield has been helping Les Bleus juggernaut roll like a well-oiled machine. N’Golo Kante is both introvert and inconspicuous but is the most important cog in Didier Deschamps’s wheel of success. It’s Kante’s stealthy omnipresence across the field that has often caught his opponents and their star players off the guard. Who knows it better than Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Belgium’s Eden Hazard, who were surrounded by the invisible warrior from all sides and weren’t given a nanometer of space to move freely during their respective games against France. 

Last year, Hazard, who plays with Kante in Chelsea, famously remarked, “He’s everywhere. I think sometimes when I'm on the pitch I see him twice. One on the left, one on the right. I think I'm playing with twins!” The Belgian striker was quite prophetic as it was Kante who didn’t allow him any room to flourish during the hard-fought semifinal, which saw the exit of Hazard-led Golden Generation of Belgium. The English Premier League winner with Leicester City and Chelsea in back to back seasons, chases, hounds, tackles, snatches and passes the ball with an unparalleled work rate and an unbelievable precision.

His Chelsea predecessor and former France captain Marcel Desailly once tweeted: “71% of the earth is covered by water. N'Golo Kante covers the rest.” Another member of France’s famous 1998 World Cup-winning team, Thierry Henry, whose job of foiling the French force as a Belgium coaching staff was warded off by Kante in the semifinal, once described his visit to a Chelsea training session: “I went over to him and stood in front of him. And I poked him in the chest. I had to, just to check if he was real!”

He might be one of the smallest players in Russia at 5-foot-6, but 27-year-old Kante, who been described as “the man with fifteen lungs” by his compatriot Paul Pogba has been having a towering presence in the French midfield, which allows more space for their wunderkind Kylian Mbappe to attack with his electric pace. Nonetheless, the trained account has already amassed all the numbers and statistics in his favor to become a prime contender to win the Golden Ball.

Like Kante, his closest competitor for the Golden Ball race is also a genius with short stature of 5-foot-6. The other LM10 has stolen the thunder in what was billed as the more popular LM10 or Lionel Messi’s farewell World Cup. Luka Modric not only outclassed and outshone his acronym-sake in his side’s 3-0 victory over Argentina but also guided his team to the first World Cup final in his country’s not-so-long football history. He has been a creative midfielder, a withdrawn striker and the set-piece specialist for the Croatian team to be the heart of the all-conquering side. He is probably the only player in this World Cup who has recovered the ball more than even Kante. 

The Real Madrid no. 10, who was influential in helping the La Liga giants to a third consecutive UEFA Champions League crown, has been the fulcrum of his country’s current Golden Generation, comprising of the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic.

In Rakitic’s words his compatriot and midfield partner is “from a different planet” while Modric’s manager during his forgettable days with Tottenham Hotspur, Harry Redknapp once said, “Luka is as brave as a lion. He can make things happen – he has that ability to open the door.” 

“My captain does a great job in the dressing room - he's a role model on and off the pitch for all kids, not only in Croatia. If I had a vote [in the Ballon d'Or], I would vote for Luka,” was the opinion of former Croatian footballer and the all-time highest scorer Davor Suker, who led his side, also comprised of Robert Prosinecki and Zvonimir Boban, to their memorable 3rd place finish at the 1998 World Cup, during an interview with ESPN. It was Didier Deschamps-led France, against whom the Croats narrowly lost 2-1 in the semifinal in 1998 even though Suker scored the solitary goal for his country. Twenty years later, Modric’s team is not only playing a revenge match but also getting the chance to lift the Cup as they play their first-ever World Cup final against a French side, being managed by Deschamps only.

In his quest for the elusive team silverware, 32-year-old Modric is currently leading the fray to grab the Golden Ball, but believe it or not, he is also facing a jail term because of a perjury case back home, involving a former Croatian football boss and agent, Zdravko Mamic. A crowning glory for his team as well as himself may change the negative perception of Modric in his own country.