Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic questioned the referee's decision to award a marginal penalty against Ivan Perisic in his team's 4-2 World Cup final loss to France on Sunday, saying it should have been waved away.

"I never comment on refereeing," said Dalic in the post-match press conference at Luzhniki Stadium. "But let me say one sentence. In a World Cup final, you do not give such a penalty."

(Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic, center)

"Maybe we were a bit unlucky. In the first six games we may have been favored by luck, but today not."

Argentinean referee Nestor Pitana awarded the penalty after the Video Assistant Referee called him to the sideline to review.

In the play, a defending Perisic dropped his hand into the path of a ball fired in from a corner and helped on by Samuel Umtiti. The ball undoubtedly hit his hand, but whether he could have avoided it was certainly unclear.

Croatia star Luka Modric agreed with his boss that the World Cup final is no place for such a controversial handball decision.

"It was unintentional, and in a game of this magnitude you cannot give this kind of a penalty," said the man who was awarded the Golden Ball for the tournament's best player after the match.

"I didn't see it, so I cannot say it for myself, but that was the turning point of the game. We dominated the game, but he gives the penalty and it kills you a bit."

Despite the disappointment, Dalic kept a philosophical approach to the goal, and to VAR in general.

"I just shared my way of thinking, nothing beyond that. I respect the referee. He did what he saw was fair and square. I never meant to be negative."

"When it goes in your favor then (VAR) is good, when it doesn't go in your favor, it is bad," he said.