Ivan Rakitic has expressed his shock at seeing former Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta left out of Spain's line-up for their final World Cup match, saying the omission "hurt a lot".
Rakitic and Iniesta won three La Liga titles, four Copa del Rey trophies and a Champions League together between 2015 and 2018, and the Croatian said he was stunned that Fernando Hierro overlooked the World Cup winner as Spain went up against Russia in the round of 16.
Iniesta replaced David Silva after 67 minutes of the game, which ended in a penalty shoot-out victory for the hosts after a 1-1 extra-time draw.