Croatia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup

Croatia participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. This was their second appearance after their debut-bronze madel appearance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Qualifying
See also: 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6

Croatia was in Group 6 of UEFA's World Cup qualifications. They played alongside Belgium, Scotland, Latvia and San Marino, finished first in the group and qualified directly for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Croatia national team started the qualification led by manager Miroslav Blažević, but after tying the initial two matches, he was replaced by Mirko Jozić.[1]

Standings

Final table Home Away
Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pld W D L GF GA Pts Pld W D L GF GA Pts
1.  Croatia 8530152+1318-1:01:14:14:04310102104220508
2.  Belgium 8521256+19170:0-2:03:110:143101521042111047
3.  Scotland 8431126+6150:02:2-2:14:042208384211437
4.  Latvia 8116516-1140:10:40:1-1:140131714103493
5.  San Marino 8017330-2710:41:40:20:1-4004111040132191

The results of the Group Stage

2 September 2000 (2000-09-02) Belgium  0–0  Croatia Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels
20:00 UTC+2 Report Attendance: 27,510
Referee: Nikolai Levnikov (Russia)
11 October 2000 (2000-10-11) Croatia  1–1  Scotland Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
20:00 UTC+2 Bokšić  16' Report K. Gallacher  24' Attendance: 17,995
Referee: Gilles Veissiere (France)
24 March 2001 (2001-03-24) Croatia  4–1  Latvia Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek
18:00 UTC+1 Balaban  8', 42', 45'
Vugrinec  89'		 Report Štolcers  60' Attendance: 13,345
Referee: Martin Ingvarsson (Sweden)
2 June 2001 (2001-06-02) Croatia  4–0  San Marino Stadion Varteks, Varaždin
20:15 UTC+2 Vlaović  3'
Balaban  29'
Šuker  54' (pen.)
Vugrinec  89'		 Report Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Oleg Timofeyev (Estonia)
6 June 2001 (2001-06-06) Latvia  0–1  Croatia Skonto stadions, Riga
18:00 UTC+3 Report Balaban  40' Attendance: 5,000
Referee: John McDermott (Republic of Ireland)
1 September 2001 (2001-09-01) Scotland  0–0  Croatia Hampden Park, Glasgow
15:00 UTC+1 Report Attendance: 47,584
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)
5 September 2001 (2001-09-05) San Marino  0–4  Croatia Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle
20:15 UTC+2 Report N. Kovač  40'
Prosinečki  48' (pen.), 90'
Soldo  77'		 Attendance: 1,387
Referee: Knud Stadsgaard (Denmark)
6 October 2001 (2001-10-06) Croatia  1–0  Belgium Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb
18:00 UTC+2 Bokšić  75' Report Attendance: 36,077
Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany)

Players

Altogether 28 players appeared in the qualifying matches. Boško Balaban and Robert Jarni are the only player that appeared in all 8 matches. Balaban was also the top scorer with 5 achieved goals. Ivica Olić, Anthony Šerić, Josip Šimunić and Vladimir Vasilj did not appear in any of the qualifying matches but made the final World Cup squad.

Complete list of players in the qualifying matches

# Name Games Played Goals
1 Boško Balaban 8 5
Robert Jarni 8 0
3 Robert Prosinečki 7 2
Davor Vugrinec 7 2
Dario Šimić 7 0
6 Davor Šuker 6 1
Robert Kovač 6 0
Stipe Pletikosa 6 0
Igor Tudor 6 0
10 Niko Kovač 5 1
Zvonimir Soldo 5 1
Boris Živković 5 0
13 Goran Vlaović 4 1
Daniel Šarić 4 0
Igor Štimac 4 0
16 Igor Bišćan 3 0
Mario Stanić 3 0
Stjepan Tomas 3 0
19 Alen Bokšić 2 2
Jasmin Agić 2 0
Milan Rapaić 2 0
Jurica Vranješ 2 0
23 Nenad Bjelica 1 0
Tomislav Butina 1 0
Mario Cvitanović 1 0
Krunoslav Jurčić 1 0
Željko Pavlović 1 0
Jurica Vučko 1 0

Source: Croatian Football Federation

Player was not selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup squad

World Cup preparation
10 November 2001World Cup Stadium, Seoul South Korea0 – 2L
13 November 2001World Cup Stadium, Gwangju South Korea1 – 1D
13 February 2002Stadion Kantrida, Rijeka Bulgaria0 – 0D
27 March 2002Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Slovenia0 – 0D
17 April 2002Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Bosnia and Herzegovina2 – 0W
8 May 2002Stadion PMFC, Pécs Hungary2 – 0W

World Cup Squad

Head coach: Mirko Jozić

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Stipe Pletikosa (1979-01-08)8 January 1979 (aged 23) 17 Hajduk Split
2 2DF Anthony Šerić (1979-01-15)15 January 1979 (aged 23) 8 Hellas Verona
3 2DF Josip Šimunić (1978-02-18)18 February 1978 (aged 24) 6 Hertha BSC
4 2DF Stjepan Tomas (1976-03-06)6 March 1976 (aged 26) 17 Vicenza
5 3MF Milan Rapaić (1973-08-16)16 August 1973 (aged 28) 23 Fenerbahçe
6 2DF Boris Živković (1975-11-15)15 November 1975 (aged 26) 15 Bayer Leverkusen
7 4FW Davor Vugrinec (1975-03-24)24 March 1975 (aged 27) 21 Lecce
8 3MF Robert Prosinečki (1969-01-12)12 January 1969 (aged 33) 48 Portsmouth
9 4FW Davor Šuker (c) (1968-01-01)1 January 1968 (aged 34) 68 1860 München
10 3MF Niko Kovač (1971-10-15)15 October 1971 (aged 30) 20 Bayern Munich
11 4FW Alen Bokšić (1970-01-21)21 January 1970 (aged 32) 36 Middlesbrough
12 1GK Tomislav Butina (1974-03-30)30 March 1974 (aged 28) 7 Dinamo Zagreb
13 3MF Mario Stanić (1972-04-10)10 April 1972 (aged 30) 43 Chelsea
14 3MF Zvonimir Soldo (1967-11-02)2 November 1967 (aged 34) 59 VfB Stuttgart
15 2DF Daniel Šarić (1972-08-04)4 August 1972 (aged 29) 25 Panathinaikos
16 3MF Jurica Vranješ (1980-01-31)31 January 1980 (aged 22) 7 Bayer Leverkusen
17 2DF Robert Jarni (1968-10-26)26 October 1968 (aged 33) 78 Panathinaikos
18 4FW Ivica Olić (1979-09-14)14 September 1979 (aged 22) 4 Zagreb
19 4FW Goran Vlaović (1972-08-07)7 August 1972 (aged 29) 50 Panathinaikos
20 2DF Dario Šimić (1975-11-12)12 November 1975 (aged 26) 48 Inter Milan
21 2DF Robert Kovač (1974-04-06)6 April 1974 (aged 28) 19 Bayern Munich
22 4FW Boško Balaban (1978-10-15)15 October 1978 (aged 23) 13 Aston Villa
23 1GK Vladimir Vasilj (1975-07-06)6 July 1975 (aged 26) 2 Zagreb

The Tournament
See also: 2002 FIFA World Cup Group G

Croatia was drawn into Group G. Croatia's opponents were Italy, Ecuador, Mexico. After losing to Ecuador nad Mexico nad winning Italy Croatia was eliminated from the tournament.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Mexico 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Italy 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4
3  Croatia 3 1 0 2 2 3 −1 3
4  Ecuador 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria

Matches

All times local (UTC+9)

Croatia vs Mexico
Croatia 0–1 Mexico
Report Blanco  60' (pen.)
Attendance: 32,239
Referee: Lu Jun (China PR)
Croatia
Mexico
GK1Stipe Pletikosa
CB6Boris Živković 59'
CB3Josip Šimunić
CB21Robert Kovač
RM10Niko Kovač
CM14Zvonimir Soldo
CM4Stjepan Tomas
LM17Robert Jarni
AM8Robert Prosinečki 46'
CF9Davor Šuker (c) 64'
CF11Alen Bokšić 67'
Substitutions:
MF5Milan Rapaić 46'
DF15Daniel Šarić 64'
MF13Mario Stanić 67'
Manager:
Mirko Jozić
GK1Óscar Pérez
CB5Manuel Vidrio
CB4Rafael Márquez (c)
CB16Salvador Carmona
DM6Gerardo Torrado
RM13Sigifredo Mercado
CM19Gabriel Caballero
CM11Braulio Luna
LM7Ramón Morales
CF10Cuauhtémoc Blanco 79'
CF9Jared Borgetti 68'
Substitutions:
FW15Luis Hernández 68'
FW17Francisco Palencia 79'
Manager:
Javier Aguirre

Man of the Match:
Braulio Luna (Mexico)

Assistant referees:
Komaleeswaran Sankar (India)
Taoufik Adjengui (Tunisia)
Fourth official:
Falla N'Doye (Senegal)

Italy vs Croatia
Italy 1–2 Croatia
Vieri  55' Report Olić  73'
Rapaić  76'
Attendance: 36,472
Referee: Graham Poll (England)
Italy
Croatia
GK1Gianluigi Buffon
RB2Christian Panucci
CB13Alessandro Nesta 24'
CB5Fabio Cannavaro
LB3Paolo Maldini (c)
RM19Gianluca Zambrotta
CM17Damiano Tommasi
CM6Cristiano Zanetti
LM11Cristiano Doni 79'
SS10Francesco Totti
CF21Christian Vieri 51'
Substitutions:
DF23Marco Materazzi 24'
FW9Filippo Inzaghi 79'
Manager:
Giovanni Trapattoni
GK1Stipe Pletikosa
SW21Robert Kovač 39'
CB3Josip Šimunić
CB4Stjepan Tomas
RWB15Daniel Šarić
LWB17Robert Jarni (c)
CM14Zvonimir Soldo 62'
CM10Niko Kovač
AM7Davor Vugrinec 57'
AM5Milan Rapaić 79'
CF11Alen Bokšić
Substitutions:
FW18Ivica Olić 57'
MF16Jurica Vranješ 62'
DF20Dario Šimić 79'
Manager:
Mirko Jozić

Man of the Match:
Milan Rapaić (Croatia)

Assistant referees:
Philip Sharp (England)
Jens Larsen (Denmark)
Fourth official:
William Mattus (Costa Rica)

Ecuador vs Croatia
Ecuador 1–0 Croatia
Méndez  48' Report
Attendance: 65,862
Ecuador
Croatia
GK1José Cevallos
RB4Ulises de la Cruz
CB3Iván Hurtado (c)
CB2Augusto Poroso
LB6Raúl Guerrón
RM19Édison Méndez
CM5Alfonso Obregon 40'
CM15Marlon Ayoví
LM16Cléver Chalá 86'
CF18Carlos Tenorio 76'
CF11Agustín Delgado
Substitutions:
MF10Álex Aguinaga 40'
FW9Iván Kaviedes 76'
Manager:
Hernán Gómez
GK1Stipe Pletikosa
SW21Robert Kovač
CB3Josip Šimunić 90+2'
CB20Dario Šimić 52'
RWB15Daniel Šarić 68'
LWB17Robert Jarni (c)
CM4Stjepan Tomas 72'
CM10Niko Kovač 59'
CM5Milan Rapaić
CF18Ivica Olić
CF11Alen Bokšić
Substitutions:
FW7Davor Vugrinec 52'
MF16Jurica Vranješ 59'
MF13Mario Stanić 68'
Manager:
Mirko Jozić

Man of the Match:
Édison Méndez (Ecuador)

Assistant referees:
Miguel Giacomuzzi (Paraguay)
Roland Van Nylen (Belgium)
Fourth official:
Mark Shield (Australia)

References
  1. "Mirko Jozić Nogometni selektor u tajnom ratu" [Mirko Jozić, national coach in a secret war]. Nacional (in Croatian). No. 334. 9 April 2002. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
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