The Liverpool defender played another 90 minutes as his country dominated large swathes of proceedings in Moscow but were edged out by a clinical French outfit.
Didier Deschamps' men went ahead early through Mario Mandzukic's own goal before Ivan Perisic thrashed in a deserved equaliser after pinball in the box.
But France were in front again before the break as Antoine Griezmann converted a penalty after Perisic was deemed to have handled in the area following a VAR review.
Les Bleus pulled away in the second period with Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe both netting, but Mandzukic offered Croatia hope when he punished a Hugo Lloris mistake to bring his nation within two goals.
However, the French expertly slowed things down from that point on, securing their second World Cup victory as a result.