Croatia national football team

General

Kit history

Croatia
Nickname(s)	Vatreni (The Blazers) Kockasti (The Chequered Ones)
Association	Croatian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Zlatko Dalić
Captain	Luka Modrić
Most caps	Luka Modrić (162)
Top scorer	Davor Šuker (45)
Home Stadium	Stadion Maksimir (38,079)
FIFA code	CRO
FIFA ranking	12 3 (6 October 2022)
Highest FIFA ranking	3 (January 1999)
Lowest FIFA ranking	125 (March 1994)
Elo ranking	18 5 (31 March 2021)
Highest Elo ranking	5 (July 1998, July 2018)
Lowest Elo ranking	26 (October 2002)
First international	Croatia 4–0 Switzerland (Zagreb, Croatia; 2 April 1940) As modern Croatia Croatia 2–1 United States (Zagreb, Croatia; 17 October 1990)
Biggest win	Croatia 10–0 San Marino (Rijeka, Croatia; 4 June 2016)
Biggest defeat	Spain 6–0 Croatia (Elche, Spain; 11 September 2018)
World Cup appearances	6 (First in 1998)
Best result	Runners-up, 2018
UEFA European Championship appearances	6 (First in 1996)
Best result	Quarterfinals, 1996, 2008

The Croatia national football team is the national association football team of Croatia and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the nation's governing body of football in Croatia. Most home matches are played at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, with some fixtures also taking place at the Poljud Stadium in Split or at other smaller venues. Their current manager is Zlatko Dalić.

The team played its first competitive matches in the successful qualifying campaign for Euro 1996, leading to its first appearance at a major tournament. In Croatia's FIFA World Cup debut in 1998, where they assembled their first "Golden Generation", the team finished third and provided the tournament's top scorer, Davor Šuker. Exactly twenty years later, anchored by their second "Golden Generation", Croatia reached the 2018 World Cup Final after finishing all tournament stages undefeated and secured second place to France, providing the tournament's best player, Luka Modrić. Since becoming eligible to compete in international tournaments, Croatia has failed to qualify for only one World Cup (in 2010) and one European Championship (in 2000).

History

Main article: History of the Croatia national football team

Competitive records

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record											FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930–1990	Part of Yugoslavia										—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	Did not enter										–	–	–	–	–	–	–
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		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	Third place	3rd	7	2	4	1	8	7	Squad
2026
Total	5/6	Runners-up	23	11	4	8	35	26	–		–	62	36	18	8	108	47

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks

UEFA European Football Championship

UEFA European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960 to 1992	Part of Yugoslavia								—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	Quarter-final	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-final	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	Qualified										1st	8	5	2	1	17	7
2024	To be determined										To be determined
Total	Quarter-final	5/6	18	8	5	5	23	20	–		–	70	45	16	9	135	46

UEFA Nations League

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	To be determined
Total			10	2	1	7	13	26	9th

Results and fixtures

2020

International friendly 1 June	Croatia	Cancelled	Turkey	Osijek, Croatia
		Report		Stadium: Stadion Gradski vrt

International friendly 8 June	France	Cancelled	Croatia	Nice, France
21:00 CEST		Report		Stadium: Allianz Riviera

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 5 September	Portugal	4–1	Croatia	Porto, Portugal
20:45 CEST (19:45 WEST)	Cancelo  41' Jota  58' Félix  70' A. Silva  90+4'	Report	Petković  90+1'	Stadium: Estádio do Dragão Attendance: 0 Referee: Davide Massa (Italy) Assistant Referees: Filippo Meli (Italy) Fourth Official: Paolo Valeri (Italy)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 8 September	France	4–2	Croatia	Saint-Denis, France
20:45 CEST	Griezmann  43' Livaković  45+1' (o.g.) Upamecano  65' Giroud  77' (pen.)	Report	Lovren  17' Brekalo  55'	Stadium: Stade de France Attendance: 0 Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan (Romania) Assistant Referees: Octavian Șovre (Romania) Fourth Official: Sebastian Colţescu (Romania)

International friendly 7 October	Switzerland	1–2	Croatia	St. Gallen, Switzerland
20:45 CEST	Gavranović  31'	Report	Brekalo  42' Pašalić  67'	Stadium: Kybunpark Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Tiago Martins (Portugal) Assistant Referees: Luis Campos (Portugal) Fourth Official: Urs Schnyder (Switzerland)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 11 October	Croatia	2–1	Sweden	Zagreb, Croatia
18:00 CEST	Vlašić  32' Kramarić  84'	Report	Berg  66'	Stadium: Stadion Maksimir Attendance: 2,020 Referee: John Beaton (Scotland) Assistant Referees: Douglas Potter (Scotland) Fourth Official: Steven McLean (Scotland)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 14 October	Croatia	1–2	France	Zagreb, Croatia
20:45 CEST	Vlašić  65'	Report	Griezmann  8' Mbappé  79'	Stadium: Stadion Maksimir Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands) Assistant Referees: Sander van Roekel (Netherlands) Fourth Official: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)

International friendly 11 November	Turkey	3–3	Croatia	Istanbul, Turkey
18:45 CET (20:45 FET)	Tosun  23' (pen.) Türüç  41' Ünder  58'	Report	Budimir  32' Pašalić  53' Brekalo  56'	Stadium: Vodafone Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia) Assistant Referees: Grega Kordež (Slovenia) Fourth Official: Matej Jug (Slovenia)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 14 November	Sweden	2–1	Croatia	Solna, Sweden
20:45 CET	Kulusevski  36' Danielson  45+2'	Report	Danielson  82' (o.g.)	Stadium: Friends Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany) Assistant Referees: Jan Seidel (Germany) Fourth Official: Robert Schröder (Germany)

2020–21 UEFA Nations League 17 November	Croatia	2–3	Portugal	Split, Croatia
20:45 CET	Kovačić  29', 65'	Report	Dias  52', 90' Félix  60'	Stadium: Stadion Poljud Attendance: 0 Referee: Michael Oliver (England) Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt (England) Fourth Official: Paul Tierney (England)

2021

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 24 March	Slovenia	1–0	Croatia	Ljubljana, Slovenia
20:45 CET	Lovrić  15'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Stožice Attendance: 0 Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain) Assistant Referees: Roberto del Palomar (Spain) Fourth Official: Harm Osmers (Germany)

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 27 March	Croatia	1–0	Cyprus	Rijeka, Croatia
18:00 CET	Pašalić  40'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Rujevica Attendance: 0 Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia) Assistant Referees: Silver Koiv (Estonia) Fourth Official: Juri Frischer (Estonia)

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 30 March	Croatia	3–0	Malta	Rijeka, Croatia
20:45 CEST	Perišić  62' Modrić  76' (pen.) Brekalo  90'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Rujevica Attendance: 0 Referee: Lionel Tschudi (Switzerland) Assistant Referees: Sladan Josipović (Switzerland) Fourth Official: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland)

International friendly 1 June	Croatia	v	Armenia	Velika Gorica, Croatia
--:-- CEST				Stadium: Gradski stadion

International friendly 6 June	Belgium	v	Croatia	Brussels, Belgium
20:45 CEST				Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium

UEFA Euro 2020 13 June	England	v	Croatia	London, England
15:00 CEST (14:00 BST)		Report		Stadium: Wembley Stadium

UEFA Euro 2020 18 June	Croatia	v	Czech Republic	Glasgow, Scotland
18:00 CEST (17:00 BST)		Report		Stadium: Hampden Park

UEFA Euro 2020 22 June	Croatia	v	Scotland	Glasgow, Scotland
21:00 CEST (20:00 BST)		Report		Stadium: Hampden Park

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 1 September	Russia	v	Croatia	Moscow, Russia
20:45 CEST (21:45 MSK)		Report		Stadium: Luzhniki Stadium

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 4 September	Slovakia	v	Croatia	Slovakia
20:45 CEST		Report

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 7 September	Croatia	v	Slovenia	Split, Croatia
20:45 CEST		Report		Stadium: Stadion Poljud

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 8 October	Cyprus	v	Croatia	Cyprus
20:45 CEST (21:45 EEST)		Report

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 October	Croatia	v	Slovakia	Croatia
20:45 CEST		Report

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 November	Malta	v	Croatia	Malta
20:45 CET		Report

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 14 November	Croatia	v	Russia	Croatia
15:00 CET		Report

Players

Current squad

The following is the 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020.
All numbers, caps and goals as of 30 March 2021 after match against Malta; only matches as FIFA member are included.

#	Pos	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Lovre Kalinić	3 April 1990 (1990-04-03)	19	0	Hajduk Split
	1GK	Dominik Livaković	9 January 1995 (1995-01-09)	19	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	1GK	Simon Sluga	17 March 1993 (1993-03-17)	3	0	Luton Town
	2DF	Domagoj Vida (vice-captain)	29 April 1989 (1989-04-29)	86	4	Beşiktaş
	2DF	Dejan Lovren (4th captain)	5 July 1989 (1989-07-05)	64	4	Zenit Saint Petersburg
	2DF	Šime Vrsaljko	10 January 1992 (1992-01-10)	47	0	Atlético Madrid
	2DF	Borna Barišić	10 November 1992 (1992-11-10)	18	1	Rangers
	2DF	Duje Ćaleta-Car	17 September 1996 (1996-09-17)	12	0	Marseille
	2DF	Josip Juranović	16 August 1995 (1995-08-16)	7	0	Legia Warsaw
	2DF	Domagoj Bradarić	10 December 1999 (1999-12-10)	4	0	Lille
	2DF	Mile Škorić	19 June 1991 (1991-06-19)	4	0	Osijek
	2DF	Joško Gvardiol	23 January 2002 (2002-01-23)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	3MF	Luka Modrić (captain)	9 September 1985 (1985-09-09)	136	17	Real Madrid
	3MF	Mateo Kovačić	6 May 1994 (1994-05-06)	66	3	Chelsea
	3MF	Marcelo Brozović	16 November 1992 (1992-11-16)	57	6	Internazionale
	3MF	Milan Badelj	25 February 1989 (1989-02-25)	54	2	Genoa
	3MF	Mario Pašalić	9 February 1995 (1995-02-09)	23	3	Atalanta
	3MF	Nikola Vlašić	4 October 1997 (1997-10-04)	20	5	CSKA Moscow
	3MF	Luka Ivanušec	26 November 1998 (1998-11-26)	2	1	Dinamo Zagreb
	4FW	Ivan Perišić (3rd captain)	2 February 1989 (1989-02-02)	99	27	Internazionale
	4FW	Andrej Kramarić	19 June 1991 (1991-06-19)	52	14	1899 Hoffenheim
	4FW	Ante Rebić	21 September 1993 (1993-09-21)	36	3	Milan
	4FW	Josip Brekalo	23 June 1998 (1998-06-23)	22	4	VfL Wolfsburg
	4FW	Bruno Petković	16 September 1994 (1994-09-16)	13	6	Dinamo Zagreb
	4FW	Mislav Oršić	29 December 1992 (1992-12-29)	8	0	Dinamo Zagreb
	4FW	Ante Budimir	22 July 1991 (1991-07-22)	7	1	Osasuna

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Croatia squad in the last 12 months and are still eligible for selection.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK Ivo Grbić 18 January 1996 (1996-01-18) 0 0 Atlético Madrid v. Portugal, 17 November 2020 DF Filip UremovićINJ 11 February 1997 (1997-02-11) 6 0 Rubin Kazan v. Malta, 30 March 2021 DF Dario Melnjak 31 October 1992 (1992-10-31) 8 0 Çaykur Rizespor v. Malta, 30 March 2021 DF Marin Pongračić 11 September 1997 (1997-09-11) 2 0 VfL Wolfsburg v. Portugal, 17 November 2020 DF Tin Jedvaj 28 November 1995 (1995-11-28) 26 2 Bayer Leverkusen v. France, 14 October 2020 MF Marko RogINJ 19 July 1995 (1995-07-19) 21 0 Cagliari v. Portugal, 17 November 2020 MF Toma Bašić 25 November 1996 (1996-11-25) 2 0 Bordeaux v. Portugal, 17 November 2020 MF Ivan RakitićRET 10 March 1988 (1988-03-10) 106 15 Sevilla v. Portugal, 5 September 2020 FW Kristijan Lovrić 1 December 1995 (1995-12-01) 1 0 Gorica v. Malta, 30 March 2021 FW Antonio Čolak 17 September 1993 (1993-09-17) 1 0 Malmö v. Portugal, 17 November 2020 Notes INJ = Injured or ill. WD = Withdrew from the current squad. SUS = Suspended from participating. RET = Retired after latest call-up. U21 = Joined the Croatia U21 team instead. PRE = Preliminary squad. Previous squads UEFA European Football Championship squads UEFA Euro 1996 squad UEFA Euro 2004 squad UEFA Euro 2008 squad UEFA Euro 2012 squad UEFA Euro 2016 squad UEFA Euro 2020 squad FIFA World Cup squads 1998 FIFA World Cup squad 2002 FIFA World Cup squad 2006 FIFA World Cup squad 2014 FIFA World Cup squad 2018 FIFA World Cup squad Current coaching staff Position Name Head coach Zlatko Dalić Assistant coaches Vedran Ćorluka Dražen Ladić Goalkeeping coach Marjan Mrmić Fitness coach Luka Milanović Medical Zoran Bahtijarević Saša Janković Eduard Rod Team manager Iva Olivari Alumni Former players Main List of Croatian international players Managers Main List of Croatian international managers Honours FIFA World Cup Runners-up (1): 2018 Third place (1): 1998, 2022 UEFA Nations League Runner-up (1): 2022–23 Friendly titles King Hassan II Tournament Winners (1): 1996 Korea Cup Winners (1): 1999 Other awards Best Mover of the Year 1994 1998 External links Official website (in English and Croatian) FIFA profile Croatia Croatian competitions Croatian Coaches Croatian players Croatian Stadiums Football in Croatia League competitions The CFF Cup competitions HNL Croatia Croatian Football Cup 1. HNL (U-21) (U-19) (U-17) Super Cup 2. HNL List of clubs 3. HNL List of stadiums 1. ŽNL List of leagues International football FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup · Minor tournaments · World Rankings · Player of the Year · Teams · Competitions · Federations · Codes Confederation Competitions AFC Asian Cup CAF Africa Cup of Nations CONCACAF Gold Cup CONMEBOL Copa América OFC Nations Cup UEFA European Championship Non-FIFA N.F.-Board · Viva World Cup National football teams of Europe (UEFA) Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Republic of Ireland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Kosovo · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · North Macedonia · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales Croatia – UEFA Euro 1996 1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  7.  8.  9.  10.  11.  12.  13.  14.  15.  16.  17.  18.  19.  20.  21.  22.  23.  Manager:   [[]] Croatia – 1998 FIFA World Cup Manager:   [[]] Template:Croatia squad (2002 FIFA World Cup) Template:Croatia squad (UEFA Euro 2004) Croatia – 2006 FIFA World Cup - Group stage (F) 1. Pletikosa 2. Srna 3. Šimunić 4. R. Kovač 5. Tudor 6. Vranješ 7. Šimić 8. Babić 9. Pršo 10. N. Kovač (c) 11. Tokić 12. Didulica 13. Tomas 14. Modrić 15. I. Leko 16. J. Leko 17. Klasnić 18. Olić 19. N. Kranjčar 20. Šerić 21. Balaban 22. Bošnjak 23. Butina Manager:   Zlatko Kranjčar Croatia – UEFA Euro 2008 1.  Manager:   Slaven Bilić Croatia – UEFA Euro 2012 1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  7.  8.  9.  10.  11.  12.  13.  14.  15.  16.  17.  18.  19.  20.  21.  22.  23.  Manager:   Slaven Bilić Croatia – 2014 FIFA World Cup – Group stage 1. Pletikosa 2. Vrsaljko 3. Pranjić 4. Perišić 5. Ćorluka 6. Lovren 7. Rakitić 8. Vukojević 9. Jelavić 10. Modrić 11. Srna (c) 12. Zelenika 13. Schildenfeld 14. Brozović 15. Badelj 16. Rebić 17. Mandžukić 18. Olić 19. Sammir 20. Kovačić 21. Vida 22. Eduardo 23. Subašić Manager:   Niko Kovač Croatia – UEFA Euro 2016 – Round of 16 1. Vargić 2. Vrsaljko 3. Strinić 4. Perišić 5. Ćorluka 6. Jedvaj 7. Rakitić 8. Kovačić 9. Kramarić 10. Modrić 11. Srna 12. L. Kalinić 13. Schildenfeld 14. Brozović 15. Ćorić 16. N. Kalinić 17. Mandžukić 18. Rog 19. Badelj 20. Pjaca 21. Vida 22. Čop 23. Subašić Manager:   Ante Čačić Croatia – 2018 FIFA World Cup – Runners up 1. Livaković 2. Vrsaljko 3. Strinić 4. Perišić 5. Ćorluka 6. Lovren 7. Rakitić 8. Kovačić 9. Kramarić 10. Modrić (c) 11. Brozović 12. L. Kalinić 13. Jedvaj 14. Bradarić 15. Ćaleta-Car 16. N. Kalinić 17. Mandžukić 18. Rebić 19. Badelj 20. Pjaca 21. Vida 22. Pivarić 23. Subašić Manager:   Zlatko Dalić Croatia – UEFA Euro 2020 – Round of 16 1. Kalinić 2. Livaković 3. Sluga 4. Barišić 5. Bradarić 6. Ćaleta-Car 7. Gvardiol 8. Juranović 9. Lovren 10. Škorić 11. Vida 12. Vrsaljko 13. Badelj 14. Brozović 15. Ivanušec 16. Kovačić 17. Modrić (c) 18. Pašalić 19. Vlašić 20. Brekalo 21. Budimir 22. Kramarić 23. Oršić 24. Perišić 25. Petković 26. Rebić Manager:   Zlatko Dalić Croatia – 2022 FIFA World Cup – Third place 1. Livaković 2. Stanišić 3. Barišić 4. Perišić 5. Erlić 6. Lovren 7. Majer 8. Kovačić 9. Kramarić 10. Modrić (c) 11. Brozović 12. Grbić 13. Vlašić 14. Livaja 15. Pašalić 16. Petković 17. Budimir 18. Oršić 19. Sosa 20. Gvardiol 21. Vida 22. Juranović 23. Ivušić 24. Šutalo 25. Sučić 26. Jakić Manager:   Zlatko Dalić Croatia – UEFA Euro 2024 – Group stage 1. Livaković 2. Stanišić 3. Pongračić 4. Gvardiol 5. Erlić 6. Šutalo 7. Majer 8. Kovačić 9. Kramarić 10. Modrić (c) 11. Brozović 12. Labrović 13. Vlašić 14. I.Perišić 15. M.Pašalić 16. Budimir 17. Petković 18. Ivanušec 19. Sosa 20. Pjaca 21. Vida 22. Juranović 23. Ivušić 24. Marco Pašalić 25. Sučić 26. Baturina Manager:   Zlatko Dalić