Croatia

Croatia national football team.

Croatian footballers were part of their national team in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1919-39) and also the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-92) However, during times of political turmoil the ethnically Croatian teams would occasionally form for unofficial matches. An unorganized Croatian team, supervised by Hugo Kinert, played some games in 1918-1919.

in 1940 Jozo Jakopic was the captain of an non-official national team for his country Banovina of Croatia (part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in four friendly games in the midst of a series of friendly matches against Switzerland as well as Hungary. After the invasion of the Axis powers The Croatian Football Federation became active and joined FIFA on July 17th, 1941 as a representative of Croatia as the Independent State of Croatia. The team, headed by Rudolf Hitrec, went on to play in 15 friendly games including 14 as members of FIFA. The first game that Croatia recorded as an FIFA participant was a 1-1 draw against Slovakia on the 8th of September in Bratislava. It was the Independent State of Croatia continued playing games through 1945 and the conclusion the end of World War II when People's Republic of Croatia was created as a constituent part of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. From 1945 until 1956, non-official Croatian teams played again. The year was September, 1945. government authorities organized an event called the Yugoslav Football Tournament to commemorate the conclusion of World War II. Each of the republics had national teams. Croatia coming in third place in the standings behind the team representing Serbia. Yugoslav People's Army and Serbia. Croatia also played against Indonesia as well as an Yugoslav team that was playing as Serbia. The Yugoslavia team at the 1956 Summer Olympic included Croatian footballers as did Yugoslavia in the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship tournament up to 1990.

A Yugoslav team that was able to field an Croatian group played Faroe Islands on 16 May 1991, a few days prior to referendum day for the Croatian Independence referendum. Unofficially, a Croatian team was created prior to and played its first modern international match with America United States on 17 October 1990 at Maksimir Stadium. The match that Croatia took 2-1 victory in three games played by caretaker director Drazan Jerkovic. The game against the American team was also the first time that the team wore the Croatian national shirt, which was in the style of the chequered design of the nation's coat of arms. Even though Croatia was legally part of Yugoslavia up to the time of its declaration of independence on October 8, 1991, the team had was already an official national team. Croatia won two more games in friendly play under Jerkovic. They were in the face of Romania during December of 1990, and Slovenia in June 1991.

On July 3, 1992 Croatia returned to FIFA in 1992, and played its first official match in the modern age in the modern era against Australia at Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. The team was coached by Stanko Poklepovic in the course of an international tour of exhibitions; In April of 1993, Vlatko Markovic became the the manager. Croatia was admitted to UEFA at the end of June in 1993. However, it was not enough time for the Croatian national team to participate in into the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification as it was already in the year prior. Markovic only commanded the team in one game which was a home victory in the match against Ukraine during June of 1993 before being exiled in February 1994 and substituted by Miroslav Blazevic the next month. The Croatian team's performance prior to independence were not documented by FIFA therefore they were ranked in the World Rankings in 125th place. Blazevic played the role of Croatia's Euro 1996 qualifying campaign, starting with Croatia's first competitive win post independence with a 2-0 victory over Estonia on the 4th of September in 1994. The first time they lost in a competitive match was on the 11th of June, 1995 in a 1-0 defeat away to Ukraine in the same qualifying season. They ultimately finished the first group in qualifying, and was awarded The FIFA Best Movers of 1994 prize as they were able to climb up to 62nd place in the rankings at the final day in the calendar year.

Goran Vlaovic scored Croatia's first goal in an important tournament, an injury-time victory over Turkey on the City Ground in Nottingham in their opening group match of the Euro 1996. After winning their first match, Croatia beat reigning champions Denmark with a score of 3-0. They then went on to defeat Portugal by the same score in their final group match. Croatia made it to the knockout phase and lost in the quarterfinals 2 - 1 by Germany.

Blazevic continued to be the captain of Croatia in 1998's World Cup qualification campaign which was concluded following an aggregate win in the match against Ukraine in the play-off with two legs. In the group phase at the World Cup, Croatia beat Jamaica, Japan and lost to Argentina and then defeated Romania in the quarter-finals match against Germany. Croatia defeated Germany 3-0 thanks to goals scored by Robert Jarni, Goran Vlaovic and Davor Suker. All of them following Christian Worns had been sent off. Croatia was then set to face hosts France during the quarter-finals. After a goalless first half, Croatia took the lead but were able to concede two goals to the opposition's defender Lilian Thuram, and then lose 2 - 1. In the third-place game, Croatia beat the Netherlands 1-1 with Davor Suker taking home the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals in the tournament, scoring the score of six in just seven matches. The debut of Croatia in 1998 is comparable to Portugal's third-place debut in 1966's World Cup and as a result, Croatia rose to number three on The Jan. 1999 FIFA World Rankings, their most impressive ranking up to this point. The 1990s team was called"the "golden generation." A small portion of this team (Jarni, Stimac, Boban, Prosinecki and Suker) had previously had won at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Yugoslavia under-20 team.

Croatia's qualification campaign in preparation for Euro 2000 ended as they placed at the third place in their group of qualifying, just behind FR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Ireland. Both matches against arch-rivals FR Yugoslavia (the Rump state that was later changed to Serbia as well as Montenegro) resulted with draws that kept Croatia from getting into the tournament.

Blazevic was dismissed in October 2000 after draws in the games against Belgium as well as Scotland in the initial two fixtures of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. His successor as the head for the Croatian group was Mirko Jozic. Croatia was unbeaten throughout the remainder of the qualifying matches. The team began in 2002's World Cup campaign with a small defeat to Mexico after which they won the win with a score of 2-1 against Italy in their next match. They fell in their final group game against Ecuador but were eliminated. Jozic quit to be replaced, in the summer of 2002. Otto Baric, the team's first manager who was born outside of the Balkans.

In Baric's time, the majority of the players who remained of his "golden generation" team were replaced gradually by younger players during the course of Euro 2004 qualifiers. Croatia was able to qualify for the tournament by winning the play-off win against Slovenia and won 2-1 on aggregate following Dado Prso's crucial goal in the 2nd leg. In the finals of the tournament held in Portugal, Croatia drew 0-0 with Switzerland and also drew 2-2 with France but lost to England 4-4, and suffer another elimination at the first round. Baric's two-year contract came to an end in June of 2004 which was then not renewed. The former Croatia national Zlatko Kranjcar, who was appointed as the successor to Baric on July 4, 2004 was the captain of the team during in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers without losing one game and topped the group, ahead of Sweden and Bulgaria. Local media reports accuse him of nepotism for picking the younger son Niko Kranjcar as the captain of the team. The 2005 World Cup, Croatia lost their opening match to Brazil and then drew 0-0 against Japan following Darijo Srna missed a first-half penalty. The draw against Australia with three players who were sent off , confirmed Croatia's elimination from the stage of group play. The game was marred by the referee Graham Poll who gave three yellow cards to Croatian player Josip Simunic, but did not dismiss him after his second offence. The referee later admitted that he had mistakenly identified Simunic as an Australian player because of Simunic's Australian accent. Poll was criticized for not being in control of the game and was then removed from refereeing.

In July 2006 in July 2006, in July 2006, the Croatian Football Federation replaced Kranjcar with Slaven Bilic. Bilic who was previously the manager of the under-21 squad in 2004-2006 brought several players to the team. The first game he played was a friendly away win against Italy. After being suspended Darijo Srna, Ivica Olic and Bosko Balaban because they had missed a curfew during a nightclub night out, Bilic led the team through Euro 2008 qualifying. Croatia won their group, but lost one game against Macedonia and defeating England twice. As the result did not get into the tournament for the first time since 1984.

Prior to the European Championship, Eduardo-who was the top scorer of the team in qualifying-was struck by a compound fracture during his time working in the Premier League with Arsenal during the Premier League. Bilic was forced to change his final Euro 2008 squad and recruited Nikola Kalinic and Nikola Pokrivac both of whom had not previously played in competitive matches in the team of nationals. The team faced criticism for "poor attacking" performance in warm-up matches with Scotland as well as Moldova. In the tournament, they defeated Austria, Germany and Poland in the group stage in order to reach the quarterfinals with maximal group points to become the first team in history of the tournament. Niko Kovac was captain in what was to be his last international tournament, with the exception of the final group match, where Dario Simic took on Niko Kovac's captain's armband. The Croatians' campaign came to an end by losing the penalty shoot-out against Turkey in which Luka Modric, Mladen Petric and Ivan Rakitic all missing their penalty shoot-out. Croatia ended the tournament with the record for the fewest goals conceded, fewer losses to games (0) and the their earliest goals scored (in in the 4th minute during their first match against Austria as well as the first penalty shot to be successful in the European Championship finals).

After the event, Bilic renewed his contract and became his first coach since Blazevic to manage Croatia to a series of tournaments. Croatia were drawn again to take on England during the qualifying rounds of this year's World Cup; the tie was voted as the most anticipated match of the year on FIFA.com. After a victory at home in the match against Kazakhstan, Croatia lost at home against England and ended the 14-year streak of unbeaten home records. The team was then plagued by several injuries to players, and lost 5-1 in England in the Wembley Stadium. Even though Croatia beat Kazakhstan in their final qualifying match, they ultimately lost because Ukraine which had earlier beat the group leaders England defeated Andorra to secure second place within the Group. Bilic said he would renew his contract, and remain in the charge.

Despite being outside of the top ten of the FIFA World Rankings, Croatia were ranked among the top of the league of teams in this year's UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying draw; Croatia was previously a potential host together with Hungary which would have enabled the team to be automatically qualified however UEFA decided to select Poland in addition to Ukraine to host the tournament instead. In their qualifying group Croatia came in second place in the group behind Greece but settled for a play-off with Euro 2008 rivals Turkey. Croatia then beat Turkey 3-1 on aggregate with the three goals coming during the away match in Istanbul which allowed them to qualify for Euro 2012. The following draw for the group stage of that tournament Croatia received a place in the second division of teams. They eventually placed alongside Italy, Republic of Ireland, Italy and the current champions Spain.

In the lead-up to the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament, the first major tournament for Croatia since their run in 2008 in the same tournament Manager Slaven Bilic signed a formal agreement to run Russian team Lokomotiv Moscow, thereby announcing that he was stepping down from the national team after the tournament was over. Croatia started the tournament with a convincing 3-1 win against Ireland. Republic of Ireland, with striker Mario Mandzukic scoring twice. Mandzukic continued his success in the tournament by scoring an equaliser against the draw against Italy that was shattered by the reaction of fans as well as referee decisions made by English officials Howard Webb. Croatia have to leave the tournament at the group stage for the second time after losing 1-0 to Spain. Following Bilic's resignation, Jutarnji list daily labelled Bilic as Croatia's "only manager to be dismissed in such a positive manner" and praised Bilic for the "strong recovery" of Croatia's national team over the course of his six-year term.

In the wake of Bilic the former pundit and player Igor Stimac was appointed manager of Croatia's national squad. The all-time leading goal scorer of Croatia Davor Suker was also appointed in the role of president for the Croatian Football Federation after the passing of Vlatko Markovic. Markovic had a 14-year term. After one year following being appointed, Stimac has been replaced by the former captain Niko Kovac who had previously been the head of the youth squad for the under-21 age group. Kovac managed the team to the 2-0 aggregate victory against Iceland at the playoffs of qualifying for 2014's World Cup with both goals occurring in the home match in Zagreb. In the World Cup, Croatia were placed alongside host nation Brazil, Mexico and Cameroon. In the opening game of the tournament Croatia fell by 3-1 against Brazil. The game was the subject of public attention and controversy since the referee Yuichi Nishimura was scrutinized over several decisions. In their second game, Croatia won 4-0 against Cameroon and then failed to advance from the group , as they fell 3-1 to Mexico in their final game.

For the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Croatia were playing against Italy, Bulgaria, Norway, Azerbaijan and Malta. After a draw that was goalless against Azerbaijan and a defeat away against Norway in September of 2015 members of the Executive Committee of the Croatian Football Federation unanimously decided to end Kovac's term. On the 21st of September, 2015. Ante Cacic took over as the head manager for Croatia. Croatian team. On the 13th October of the 13th of October, Croatia was able to qualify for finals after finishing runners-up for the Group H. Under Cacic, Croatia broke the record for the most goals scored in a single match after losing to San Marino 10-0 in a friendly.

In Euro 2016, Croatia were placed in Group D with Turkey, Czech Republic and the current champions Spain. Croatia began their tournament by winning 1-0 against Turkey with the volley of Luka Modric. The next game took place with Czech Republic. The match ended with Croatia scoring the lead by scoring through Ivan Perisic and doubling it by scoring through Ivan Rakitic before goals from Milan Skoda and a late penalty by Tomas Necid; there was disturbances in the crowd during the final minutes of the game, as flares were thrown onto the field and an steward injured with a firework in the stoppage time. Croatia's finals game was played against Spain and they conceded the goal of Alvaro Morata, before scoring scores from Nikola Kalinic and a winning goal scored by Perisic which gave Croatia an historic victory when they took the lead in the group. However, for Spain this was the first time they've suffered a loss in an Euro finals match for the first time since 2004. Following the game, Croatia were tipped as one of the top contenders to win the tournament and also drew Portugal at the end of the 16th round, who ended up third in their group and only progressed as the third best third-placed team. The game has been called as "abysmal" by BBC Sport as "abysmal" the winning goal was scored by Ricardo Quinaresma's goal coming in the 117th minute, after Ivan Perisic hit the post with a header during the previous attack, putting Croatia from the competition. Following it was over, the Euro 2016 campaign, Darijo Srna announced his retirement from international football. He made the record for appearances with Croatia's national team. Luka Modric was announced as the successor to his captain position.

Croatia had a perfect record in the opening round of the 2018 World Cup qualification matches. Following consecutive losses to Iceland and Turkey and the draw against Finland provoked a furious public outcry against coach Cacic. The manager was replaced by Zlatko Dalic, who guided Croatia to a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Kyiv and secured a place in the play-offs against Greece. Croatia qualified to play in this year's 2018 World Cup after beating Greece 4-1, and all goals came in the first game in Zagreb.

In the lead-up to the World Cup, The Guardian as well as other news outlets described the Croatian squad of 2017-18 as their two-time "golden generation". The players were compared to their counterparts from 1998. Croatia began the World Cup campaign with a 2:0 win against Nigeria. Following a 3-0 win against Argentina brought Vedran Corluka winning his 100th international cap with Croatia. Croatia later defeated Iceland to win the group, which was their most impressive performance ever in the group stage in the World Cup.

The team was playing Denmark during the Round of 16. Croatia triumphed in the penalty shoot-out, after the goalkeeper Danijel Subasic saved three penalties and set a record for the the most penalties saved in the course of a game. It was Croatia's first time winning a penalty shoot-out. In the quarterfinals, Croatia was able to draw 2-2 against hosts Russia and advanced in a penalty shoot-out. Croatia became one of the teams since 1990 that won consecutive penalty shoot-outs in the World Cup. In the semi-finals against England at the quarterfinal stage Croatia came back and forced their third extra time. This was also their record for the most extra time games at the World Cup. Mario Mandzukic eventually scored as Croatia defeated France 2-1, making them the second-tiniest country in terms of population to make it to the World Cup finals (after Uruguay in 1930). Croatia was defeated in their 2018 FIFA World Cup Final 4-2 to France in which a free kick was given to France in the event of a diving attempt by Antoine Griezmann, and a penalty was after the game was which was awarded to the referee video assistant (VAR) for the handball of Ivan Perisic. After the game, Luka Modric became the first Croatian to be awarded the Golden Ball award for best player in the tournament. Croatian players were greeted by a crowd of Croatian players were greeted by around half a million spectators at their return to their capital city of Zagreb.

On the 23rd January of the 23rd of January, Croatia had been drawn England along with Spain for the League A of inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League. 11 September 2018 was the date Croatia fell 6-0 against Spain during their very first Nations League game, with the score being the record loss for Croatia in the game. Croatia was able to draw 0-0 at home against England. The game was played in closed-doors because of UEFA sanctions. In the following match in the group against Spain, Croatia won 3-2 home after an injury-time goal. After a 2-1 away defeat against England, Croatia placed last in the group and was eliminated from League B of the next tournament.

The 2nd December 2018 was the draw for Euro 2020 qualifiers was held in Dublin, Ireland. Croatia was seeded to the team in Grupe E and was placed in the same group as Wales, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan. Croatia began their qualifying campaign with a narrow win on 21 March over Azerbaijan and losing narrowly on the 24th of March against Hungary While they lost points after playing Azerbaijan as well as Wales at home, Croatia managed to top their qualifying group for the first time since Euro 2008 qualifying. In the wake of the COVID-19 disease due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Euro 2020 was postponed for one year.

In the wake of a rule change within the Nations League, Croatia avoided the drop and remained within League A where they were placed in the same group together with Portugal, France and Sweden. Croatia suffered defeat in all of their games, apart to Sweden in their home stadium, and conceded greater goals to their opponents than anyone else within the Nations League (apart from Iceland) However, they also did not fall into League B due to achieving more goals than the team that finished last Sweden. With only two wins from the eight matches in 2020 Croatia had their lowest ever record of a season in the history of their club.

Croatia lost their first World Cup qualifier to Slovenia by 1-0, but they managed to beat Cyprus and Malta by 1-0 and 3-0 respectively. Dalic afterward made a declaration regarding the absence of team spirit within the squad and promised to get it back in place prior to the opening the tournament Euro 2020. Croatia did not win any of their pre-tournament friendly matches in the games against Armenia and Belgium in which they drew 1-1 and losing to Belgium 1-0 and 1-0, respectively. At Euro 2020, Croatia were assigned to Group D alongside England, Czech Republic and the play-off winner C (which later proved as Scotland). [151The team from Croatia placed second in their group, suffering the loss of 1-0 to England and a 1-1 draw against their counterparts in the Czech Republic and a 3-1 victory against Scotland. They progressed through the rounds of 16 which they lost to Spain 5-3 in extra time. Due to poor performance prior to and throughout the event Dalic was, along with other players, harshly criticised in the eyes of the Croatian public and was urged to step down. Throughout the remaining World Cup qualifying, Dalic revamped the team's roster by introducing a number of debutants who were younger. Croatia completed the qualifying tournament without a loss with only a few points dropped being unable to draw 0-0 with Russia away, and 2-2 against Slovakia on home. The success of the campaign led to Dalic Croatia's first head coach to lead the Croatian national team to have them qualified for three major tournaments.

The Croatian modern-day uniform was created in the year 1990 by Miroslav Sutej, the designer of the flag of the country, its coat of arms, and banknotes. Its red-and-white pattern is a reference to the Croatian checkerboard (sahovnica) that was used symbolize Croats throughout during the Middle Ages. While there have been a few variations introduced by designers of the kit since the initial release, the design of the jersey has remained the same through the years, and been used as a template for other Croatian national teams as well as organisations. The traditional combination of the kit has been white and red chequred shirts, shorts, and blue socks reflecting the tricolour of Croatia's flag.

The kits for away games used by the team have in the past included all blue, with checkered pattern in white and red as an accent. Croatia has shifted to dark away kits, such as the dark navy and black chequered design, which was prominently featured during the 2018 World Cup campaign. The Vatreni have been required to wear their away kit even when playing at home, or they are listed as the "home" team in neutral venues, as teams sporting a white-and-red colour scheme typically have an red home kit, and a white away kit, or the reverse. Due to the fact that both kits clash with chequers of Croatia and Croatian football, the often the utilization of their away kits is required.

Kit supplier	Period
Uhlsport	1990–1991
Lotto	1992–1994
Kappa	1994
Lotto	1994–2000
Nike	2000–present

The team has grown an enormous fan base since it was formed in the year 1991. After their appearance in 1998's FIFA World Cup, there was an increase in the national and international attention to the team. Balkan Insight commented that the national team was an icon that proclaimed Croatian Independence from Yugoslavia. Following the death of the former president Franjo Tudman the local political ties to that of the Croatian national side have become more relaxed. All games are watched by a national television network and, in particular, during tournaments.

A portion of the team's base of support is made up of supporters of Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb two clubs that are the most well-supported of Croatia. Croatian domestic league known as the Prva HNL. Both sets of supporters Bad Blue Boys of Zagreb and Torcida from Split have been linked with hooliganism as a result of their ultra-style fan support, however violence between them doesn't take place during international games. Other ultras groups are Armada Rijeka, Kohorta Osijek, Ultras Vinkovci, Tornado Zadar, Funcuti Sibenik and Demoni Pula. The team's support also originates from Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly from those who support Zrinjski Mostar and Siroki Brijeg. There are Croatian groups across Australia, North America and South America that follow the team.

In the case of supporters, it's common to write the name of their hometown on the Croatian flag to show the country from which they come. They also are noted for their cheers and orchestrated chants at matches. A section of the crowd might yell "U boj U boj, u boj" (To Battle to Battle) and another section may respond with "Za Narod svoj" (For Our People) that is the Croatian popular song of patriotic sentiment. If the team is successful supporters may sing "Bjezite ljudi, bjezite the grada" (Run out of the City"Run Away From the City) that is a song to praise the joy of Croatian supporters. There is a Croatian Football Federation endorses an official fan team for the team named Uvijek Vjerni (Always Faithful).

The band receives help from many local musicians who release music that are dedicated to the team. A former team director Slaven Bilic as well as his band released a track "Vatreno ludilo" (Fiery Madness) that was able to reach the top spot on the Croatian charts of music in Euro 2008. Other Croatian musicians such as Baruni, Connect, Dino Dvornik, Gibonni, Prljavo Kazaliste Colonia, Stoka, Nered and Thompson have also released songs featuring the team. Some of them that have been played by fans include "Moja domovina" (My homeland), "Srce vatreno" (Fiery Heart), "Hrvatska je prvak svijeta" (Croatia Are World Champions) and "Malo nas je, al' nas ima" (We aren't many, but we are Still Here). The most well-known among the fans and played during each home match are "Lijepa the si" (How beautiful You Is) performed by Thompson and the fans can sing it during the match. Bad Blue Boys supporters from Zapresic created their group Zapresic Boys and composed songs to accompany each tournament such as "Samo je jedno" (Only One Thing), "U pobjedi i porazu" (In Victory and Defeat) "Neopisivo" (Undescribable), "Igraj moja Hrvatska" (Play My Croatia) The latter being the official anthem for this year's World Cup in Russia. The fans and players also use other songs of the Croatian flag to commemorate victories too.

The behaviour of the fans during international matches has led to numerous sanctions against the Croatian team, despite the efforts from HNS, the HNS, Croatian government and players to stop any unwelcome incidents. They have been punished for numerous instances of racial discrimination by its supporters, such as racial abuse at English forward Emile Heskey in 2010 racist chants during the home match in 2015 against Norway in 2015, and an swastika being carved onto the ground during the Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy the was the same season (to which there were no fans, as a penalty for the offense for the infraction against Norway). The 12th October 2018, UEFA Nations League game against England was played in Croatia and was played without fans. (This penalty is described as an "ghost game" that is played by teams, but without an public audience.) There have been reports of fights between Croatian supporters at different tournaments which led to additional sanctions being imposed on the part of FIFA in addition to UEFA.

There is a risk of violence at matches against Serbia including the riots in Serbia that were fuelled by politics following the 1990 parliamentary elections. This has resulted in additional security measures being enforced during these games and general restrictions on fans who travel. There have also been numerous actions of protest against Croatia's national team in the wake of accusations of corruption within Croatian Football Federation. Croatian Football Federation, and other disturbances among fans. The Croatian team's Euro 2016 qualifying fixture against Italy in Milan was halted due to flares being thrown on the pitch by a group of spectators. This also took place during the European Championship match against Czech Republic.

The majority of Croatia's home games are played on the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb in Zagreb. It is also home to local team Dinamo. The stadium, which was built in 1912 and then renovated in 1997, was named in honor of the nearby neighborhood that is Maksimir. The stadium was among the two venues that played host to UEFA Euro 1976 that was held by Yugoslavia along with Red Star Stadium in Belgrade. It has hosted matches for Croatia's national team since the inaugural home game in the match against Lithuania. It is home to the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) had previously agreed to extensive strategies with the state for a major renovation of the stadium and expand the capacity of its seating by forty thousand but the plan was denied by the Mayor in Zagreb Milan Bandic in 2008 because of the costs associated with construction.

There are occasions when home matches are held at smaller venues across the country. For instance, Stadion Poljud in Split has played host to qualifying fixtures from 1995, with the first one being an 1-1 draw against Italy. In the time between 1995 between 1995 and 2011 Croatia did not win an international match at Poljud in a match that the local media described as " Poljudsko prokletsvo" ("the Poljud curse"). The curse was lifted when the team came back from behind to defeat Georgia in a match on the 3rd June 2011. The qualifying fixtures were also performed at Stadion Kantrida in Rijeka along with Stadion Gradski vrt in Osijek and the Stadion Varteks in Varazdin. The venues aren't as frequent because of their less accessible places and less seats, in spite of opposition from locals and players.

The table below provides an overview of Croatia performance at the various locations used for home games. Since the Croatians' first game in the month of October, 1990, they have played home matches at 11 stadiums throughout the country. The table below provides an overview of the Croatian results at home stadiums.

Stadium	City / town	Pld	W	D	L	Win %	Last match hosted
Stadion Maksimir	Zagreb	67	46	15	6	68.7	2020
Stadion Poljud	Split	17	4	8	5	23.5	2022
Stadion Gradski vrt	Osijek	14	10	3	1	71.4	2022
Stadion Kantrida	Rijeka	11	10	1	0	90.9	2011
Stadion Varteks	Varaždin	8	5	2	1	62.5	2019
Stadion Rujevica	Rijeka	7	5	2	0	71.4	2021
Stadion A. Drosina	Pula	5	4	0	1	80.0	2019
Stadion Koprivnica	Koprivnica	1	1	0	0	100.0	2016
Stadion Cibalia	Vinkovci	1	1	0	0	100.0	2009
Stadion Kranjčevićeva	Zagreb	1	1	0	0	100.0	1996
Stadion Šubićevac	Šibenik	1	0	1	0	0.0	2003
Stadion Radnik	Velika Gorica	1	0	1	0	0.0	2021
Total		134	87	33	14	64.9%	2022

• Croatia and Italy. Italy: Matches between Croatia and Italy are referred to in the Derby Adriatico or Adriatic Derby named in honor of the Adriatic Sea which separates the two countries. This rivalry is often confused with the similar Adriatic derby that takes place between Croatian teams Hajduk as well as Rijeka. Croatia has not lost to Italy from 1942 onwards, and the majority of matches being played in qualifying games as well as at tournaments. In the Euro 2016 qualifying phase, Croatia and Italy played twice and both teams were able to draw. Both games were marred by a tense crowd caused by flares being thrown on the pitch. This also happened when the two teams played in the 2012 European Championship. In 2002, at the FIFA World Cup, Croatia was able to come back from behind to beat Italy 1-1 in a second game following 2 Italian goals were not allowed. At the time of writing, July 18 both countries had played 9 times. Croatia has been crowned the game three times. Italy is a winner once and has drawn five times.
• Croatia against. Serbia: Stemming from the Croatian War of Independence, Croatia and Serbia have formed a politically controversial football rivalry that is called by one of the commentators as being among the "fiercest rivalries anywhere in the entire world". The fans from both teams fought at first in the Dinamo-Red Star riot , as both clubs were considered emblems of national identity in the era. Since the break-up of Yugoslavia both nations have continued to play their national teams to show their national identity. Croatia and Serbia met at first while the qualification process to play in Euro 2000, with both matches ending in draw that sparked violence among fans and players. Since since then, the two sides have played twice during World Cup qualification, with Croatia winning 2 -0 with a 2-0 win in Zagreb and the match away ended in a draw following Josip Simunic as well as Nemanja Matic were dismissed. The matches were played with no fans from away and also with security measures to ensure that there was no crowd trouble.

As per detail below.

The table below provides an overview of the complete report from each Croatia manager, including their performance in relation to World Cup and European Championship.

Manager	Period	Pld	W	D	L	Win %	Major competitions
Jozo Jakopić	1939–1941	4	2	1	1	50.00
Rudolf Hitrec	1941	1	0	0	1	0.00
Bogdan Cuvaj	1941–1943	13	6	3	4	46.15
Bernard Hügl	1943–1945	1	1	0	0	100.00
Bogdan Cuvaj	1956	1	1	0	0	100.00
Dražan Jerković	1990–1991	3	3	0	0	100.00
Stanko Poklepović	1992	4	1	1	2	25.00
Vlatko Marković	1993–1994	1	1	0	0	100.00
Miroslav Blažević	1994–2000	72	33	24	15	45.83	1996 European Championship – Quarter-finals 1998 World Cup – Third place 2000 European Championship – Failed to qualify
Tomislav Ivić	1994	1	1	0	0	100.00
Mirko Jozić	2000–2002	18	9	6	3	50.00	2002 World Cup – Group stage
Otto Barić	2002–2004	24	11	8	5	45.83	2004 European Championship – Group stage
Zlatko Kranjčar	2004–2006	25	11	8	6	44.00	2006 World Cup – Group stage
Slaven Bilić	2006–2012	65	42	15	8	64.62	2008 European Championship – Quarter-finals 2010 World Cup – Failed to qualify 2012 European Championship – Group stage
Igor Štimac	2012–2013	15	8	2	5	53.33
Niko Kovač	2013–2015	19	10	5	4	52.63	2014 World Cup – Group stage
Ante ÄŒačić	2015–2017	25	15	6	4	60.00	2016 European Championship – Round of 16
Zlatko Dalić	2017–	60	29	14	17	48.33	2018 World Cup – Runners-up 2020 European Championship – Round of 16 2022 World Cup – To be determined
Total		352	184	93	75	52.27%	12 out of 14

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

The following list is the squad of the Nations League fixtures against Austria on June 3, 2022. France on June 6, 2022. Denmark at 10 June 2022, and France on 13 June 2022.

The cap and goal count as at June 13, 2022 following the game against France.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Dominik Livaković	9 January 1995 (age 27)	31	0	Dinamo Zagreb
12	GK	Nediljko Labrović	10 October 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Rijeka
23	GK	Ivica Ivušić	1 February 1995 (age 27)	5	0	Osijek
2	DF	Marin Pongračić	11 September 1997 (age 24)	5	0	VfL Wolfsburg
3	DF	Josip Stanišić	2 April 2000 (age 22)	5	0	Bayern Munich
5	DF	Duje Ćaleta-Car	17 September 1996 (age 25)	23	1	Marseille
6	DF	Josip Šutalo	28 February 2000 (age 22)	2	0	Dinamo Zagreb
20	DF	Martin Erlić	24 January 1998 (age 24)	3	0	Sassuolo
21	DF	Domagoj Vida (vice-captain)	29 April 1989 (age 33)	98	4	AEK Athens
22	DF	Josip Juranović	16 August 1995 (age 27)	20	0	Celtic
	DF	Šime Vrsaljko	10 January 1992 (age 30)	52	0	Olympiacos
	DF	Borna Barišić	10 November 1992 (age 29)	26	1	Rangers
	DF	Borna Sosa	21 January 1998 (age 24)	6	0	VfB Stuttgart
4	MF	Lovro Majer	17 January 1998 (age 24)	8	2	Rennes
8	MF	Mateo Kovačić	6 May 1994 (age 28)	81	3	Chelsea
10	MF	Luka Modrić (captain)	9 September 1985 (age 36)	152	22	Real Madrid
11	MF	Marcelo Brozović	16 November 1992 (age 29)	74	7	Internazionale
13	MF	Nikola Vlašić	4 October 1997 (age 24)	39	7	Torino
14	MF	Luka Sučić	8 September 2002 (age 19)	3	0	Red Bull Salzburg
15	MF	Mario Pašalić	9 February 1995 (age 27)	40	7	Atalanta
16	MF	Kristijan Jakić	14 May 1997 (age 25)	4	0	Eintracht Frankfurt
19	MF	Luka Ivanušec	26 November 1998 (age 23)	11	1	Dinamo Zagreb
7	FW	Josip Brekalo	23 June 1998 (age 24)	33	4	VfL Wolfsburg
9	FW	Andrej Kramarić	19 June 1991 (age 31)	71	19	1899 Hoffenheim
17	FW	Ante Budimir	22 July 1991 (age 31)	14	1	Osasuna
18	FW	Mislav Oršić	29 December 1992 (age 29)	19	1	Dinamo Zagreb

Some of the following athletes have been selected for the squad during the last 12 months , and are qualified to be selected.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Ivo Grbić	18 January 1996 (age 26)	2	0	Atlético Madrid	Bulgaria, 29 March 2022
GK	Simon Sluga	17 March 1993 (age 29)	3	0	Ludogorets Razgrad	Russia, 14 November 2021
DF	Joško Gvardiol INJ	23 January 2002 (age 20)	10	1	RB Leipzig	Austria, 3 June 2022
DF	Dejan Lovren INJ	5 July 1989 (age 33)	70	4	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Bulgaria, 29 March 2022
DF	Mile Škorić	19 June 1991 (age 31)	7	0	Osijek	Bulgaria, 29 March 2022
DF	Filip Uremović	11 February 1997 (age 25)	6	0	Hertha BSC	Slovakia, 11 October 2021
MF	Nikola Moro	12 March 1998 (age 24)	1	0	Dynamo Moscow	Bulgaria, 29 March 2022
FW	Ivan Perišić INJ	2 February 1989 (age 33)	113	32	Tottenham Hotspur	Austria, 3 June 2022
FW	Marko Livaja INJ	26 August 1993 (age 28)	13	2	Hajduk Split	Austria, 3 June 2022
FW	Petar Musa INJ	4 March 1998 (age 24)	0	0	Benfica	Austria, 3 June 2022
FW	Bruno Petković	16 September 1994 (age 27)	21	6	Dinamo Zagreb	Russia, 14 November 2021
FW	Antonio ÄŒolak	17 September 1993 (age 28)	3	0	Rangers	Russia, 14 November 2021

From 13 June 2022.

Players who are bold are in active play in Croatia.

The team's newest goalscorer is Luka Ivanusec, who scored his first goal on January 14, 2017, aged 18 years old 1 month, and 19 days. With 45 goals, Davor Suker is the top scorer for the team.

As per detail below.

Draws are based on knockout matches that are that are decided by penalty kicks. current as of November 14, 2021, following the match against  Russia.

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Part of  Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1934
1938
1950	Part of  Yugoslavia
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998	Third place	3rd	7	5	0	2	11	5	Squad	2nd	10	5	4	1	20	13
2002	Group stage	23rd	3	1	0	2	2	3	Squad	1st	8	5	3	0	15	2
2006	Group stage	22nd	3	0	2	1	2	3	Squad	1st	10	7	3	0	21	5
2010	Did not qualify									3rd	10	6	2	2	19	13
2014	Group stage	19th	3	1	0	2	6	6	Squad	2nd	12	6	3	3	14	9
2018	Runners-up	2nd	7	4	2	1	14	9	Squad	2nd	12	7	3	2	19	5
2022	Qualified									1st	10	7	2	1	21	4
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Runners-up	6/7	23	11	4	8	35	26	—	6/7	72	43	20	9	129	51

FIFA World Cup history
First match	Croatia 3–1 Jamaica  (Lens, France; 14 June 1998)
Biggest win	Croatia 4–0 Cameroon  (Manaus, Brazil; 18 June 2014)
Biggest defeat	Brazil 3–1 Croatia  (São Paulo, Brazil; 12 June 2014)
	Mexico 3–1 Croatia  (Recife, Brazil; 23 June 2014)
	France 4–2 Croatia  (Moscow, Russia; 15 July 2018)
Best result	Runners-up in 2018
Worst result	Group stage in 2002, 2006, 2014

Draws also include knockout matches based through penalty kicks. They are correct at the time of the 28th June 2021, following the match against  Spain.

UEFA European Championship record										Qualifying record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960	Part of  Yugoslavia
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996	Quarter-finals	7th	4	2	0	2	5	5	Squad	1st	10	7	2	1	22	5
2000	Did not qualify									3rd	8	4	3	1	13	9
2004	Group stage	13th	3	0	2	1	4	6	Squad	2nd	10	6	2	2	14	5
2008	Quarter-finals	5th	4	3	1	0	5	2	Squad	1st	12	9	2	1	28	8
2012	Group stage	10th	3	1	1	1	4	3	Squad	2nd	12	8	2	2	21	7
2016	Round of 16	9th	4	2	1	1	5	4	Squad	2nd	10	6	3	1	20	5
2020	Round of 16	14th	4	1	1	2	7	8	Squad	1st	8	5	2	1	17	7
2024	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Quarter-finals	6/7	22	9	6	7	30	28	—	6/7	70	45	16	9	135	46

UEFA European Championship history
First match	Croatia 1–0 Turkey  (Nottingham, England; 11 June 1996)
Biggest win	Croatia 3–0 Denmark  (Sheffield, England; 16 June 1996)
Biggest defeat	Portugal 3–0 Croatia  (Nottingham, England; 19 June 1996)
Best result	Quarter-finals in 1996, 2008
Worst result	Group stage in 2004, 2012

Draws are based on knockout matches that are decided through penalty kicks. They are correct at 13 June 2022 following the game against  France.

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	Rank
2018–19	A	4	4	1	1	2	4	10		9th
2020–21	A	3	6	1	0	5	9	16		12th
2022–23	A	1	4	2	1	1	3	4	TBA
Total			14	4	2	8	16	30	9th

UEFA Nations League history
First match	Spain 6–0 Croatia  (Elche, Spain; 11 September 2018)
Biggest win	Croatia 3–2 Spain  (Zagreb, Croatia; 15 November 2018)
	Croatia 2–1 Sweden  (Zagreb, Croatia; 11 October 2020)
Biggest defeat	Spain 6–0 Croatia  (Elche, Spain; 11 September 2018)
Best result	9th place in 2018–19
Worst result	12th place in 2020–21

Draws also include knockout matches, which are that are decided by penalty kicks. current as of January 14, 2017, following the game with  China PR.

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1996 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament	Champions	1st	2	0	0	0	3	3
1997 Kirin Cup	Runners-up	2nd	2	0	1	1	4	5
1999 Korea Cup	Champions	1st	3	1	2	0	5	4
2006 Lunar New Year Cup	Third place	3rd	2	1	0	1	4	2
2017 China Cup	Fourth place	4th	2	0	2	0	2	2
Total	2 Title	5/5	11	2	7	2	18	16

Below is a graph of annual averages for the Croatian FIFA ranking. When Croatia was admitted to FIFA, Croatia was ranked as 125th worldwide. In 1998, the World Cup propelled Croatia to third position after the tournament, which made it the most unpredictable group in FIFA ranking the history of FIFA. The team remained in that position until February 1999.

As per detail below.

FIFA World Cup

• 3rd place, bronze medalist Third place: 1998
• 2nd place, silver medalist Runners-up: 2018

Hassan II Trophy

• 1st place, gold medalist Champions: 1996

Kirin Cup

• 2nd place, silver medalist Runners-up: 1997

Korea Cup

• 1st place, gold medalist Champions: 1999

Lunar New Year Cup

• 3rd place, bronze medalist Third place: 2006

Best Mover of the Year

• 1994
• 1998

In the year 2010, Manager Slaven Bilic established the foundation called Vatreno Srce ( Fiery Heart) which began an array of charitable work of the National team. The principal goal for the foundation's work is to help children in a variety of ways. In 2012, it has made fifty grants of 1200,000 HRK to various child-related organizations.

On the 16th December 2012 the foundation raised the foundation 500,000 HRK in the auction for Niko Kranjcar's shirt as well as Lionel Messi's shirt that was signed by the entire team of FC Barcelona players. The auction took place at the Esplanade Zagreb Hotel and even was attended by the president of Croatia Ivo Josipovic.

On the 13th of November, 2018, the players met in the hotel The Westin Zagreb to answer the fan's calls and the profits were given towards the Vatreno Srce foundation. This year, the foundation decided to fund Children's Hospital Zagreb and Korak u Zivot ( A Step into Life) A charity which assists children who are raised in orphanages move to higher education.

On the 11th of November, 2019 More than 500 000 HRK were collected through a second call that was then transferred toward Children's Hospital Kantrida.

On March 24, 2020 National team players donated 4200,000 HRK to fight the COVID-19 virus and to repair the damages caused by the 2020 Zagreb Earthquake.