MOSCOW — Croatia captain Luka Modric won the Golden Ball award for the World Cup's best player despite being on the losing side to France in a thrilling final in Moscow Sunday.

Modric was named Man of the Match three times in Croatia's seven games in Russia, but even the Real Madrid midfielder was powerless to stop France's firepower and the rise of 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward won the young player of the tournament award after scoring his fourth goal of the competition in the final, which France won 4-2.

Belgium captain Eden Hazard finished second in the running for the Golden Ball, with France's Antoine Griezmann, who also scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the final, coming third.

Belgium's Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper.

Despite Griezmann and Mbappe getting on the scoresheet, England's Harry Kane claimed the Golden Boot for his six goals.

The Tottenham star topped the chart by two goals ahead of a group including Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe, who both scored in France's win in Sunday's final.

Kane is the first England player to win the coveted prize since Gary Lineker 32 years ago.

He scored twice against Tunisia in England's first match in Russia and then bagged a hat trick in a 6-1 romp against Panama.

Manager Gareth Southgate rested Kane for the third group game against Belgium but the captain returned to score from the penalty spot against Colombia in the last 16.

He failed to add to his tally in England's next three games — the 2-0 quarterfinal win over Sweden, the 2-1 semifinal loss to Croatia nor the 2-0 third-place play-off defeat by Belgium.

Joining Griezmann and Mbappe on the four-goal mark were Russia's Denis Cheryshev, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Belgium's Romelu Lukaku. — AFP