Croatia beat Russia 4-3 on penalties in Sochi on Sunday (AEST) to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals where they will face England, while Russia have been eliminated from the tournament.

Ballon d'Or is an annual football award that honors the male player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by football journalists.

"The Ballon d'Or? I don't think about it at all," Modric said.

"The most important for me is my team winning the World Cup. We have already achieved something, but we can do even better."

Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina legend Lionel Messi have won the last 10 Ballon d'Ors between them. Neither has a World Cup medal though. Argentina and Portugal were both knocked out of Russa 2018 in the Round of 16.

Modric added: "Honestly, individual awards are not important for me. Such awards are for the contribution you've made. We want to bring a medal home and see how it shines."

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the final set to be played at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.