Croatia at the FIFA World Cup

Croatia national football team have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on five occasions (in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018) since gaining independence in 1991. Before that, from 1930 to 1990 Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. Their best result thus far was reaching the 2018 final, where they lost 4–2 to France.

Croatia - Iceland match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia

Overview

CROATIA

Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA
1998Third place3rd7502115
2002Group stage23rd310223
2006Group stage22nd302123
2010Did not qualify
2014Group stage19th310266
2018Runners-up2nd7421149
2022To be determined
2026
Total
23
11
4
8
35
26

Croatia in France 1998
Main article: Croatia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup

In the draw for the final tournament, held on 4 December 1997 at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille,[1] Croatia was drawn to play in Group H, along with two other teams which qualified for the World Cup for the first time, Jamaica and Japan, and two-time World Cup winners Argentina. In their first match Croatia beat Jamaica 3–1, in a game memorable for Croatia's first ever World Cup goal, an opener scored by Mario Stanić in the 27th minute. Croatia went on to beat Japan 1–0 before losing their third group stage match against Argentina 0–1, in a game which was of little importance as both teams had already qualified for round of 16.

In round of 16, Croatia faced Group G winners Romania (who had finished top of their group in front of England) and won the game through a penalty converted by Davor Šuker in stoppage time of the first half after a foul on Aljoša Asanović by Gabriel Popescu. After that Croatia faced Germany in the quarter-finals, in a game which was at the time touted by the Croatian media as a great opportunity to get back at Germany as it was them who had knocked out Croatia in the UEFA Euro 1996 quarter-finals two years earlier. In the 40th minute Christian Wörns received a direct red card and was sent off for fouling Davor Šuker, and Robert Jarni opened the scoring eight minutes later in stoppage time of the first half. Goran Vlaović and Davor Šuker added a second and third and the game ended in a 3–0 win, which is still regarded by fans and the media as one of the most memorable matches Croatia ever played.

Croatia went on to face hosts France in the semi-finals, but lost the game 1–2 when an opener scored by Šuker in the 46th minute was immediately equalised by Lilian Thuram the following minute. Thuram also scored France's second goal in the 69th minute. These were the only two goals Thuram ever scored for France in an international career spanning from 1994 to 2008 which saw him earn a total of 147 caps. After Croatia's exit manager Blažević was heavily criticized by Croatian press for not sending in Robert Prosinečki soon enough after France took the lead (Prosinečki came on as a substitute for Mario Stanić just minutes before the final whistle). Croatia captain Zvonimir Boban tried to take the blame for the defeat saying that he felt he needed to be substituted but wanted to stay on the pitch just a little while longer (it was his defending mistake which led to Thuram's equaliser).

After being knocked out in the semi-finals, Croatia looked for consolation against Netherlands in the third place match played just three days later at Parc des Princes. Croatia went on to win 2–1 through goals by Šuker and Prosinečki, but after the final whistle Dražen Ladić was labelled player of the match, for a career-best performance which saw him save numerous shots from Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf and Marc Overmars.

Squad
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup squads

Manager Miroslav Blažević included the following 22 players in the finals tournament squad. The 16 players who were capped at least once in one of the seven matches Croatia played in France are highlighted in bold. The remaining six players were unused at the tournament (defenders Goran Jurić and Anthony Šerić, defensive midfielder Mamić, striker Ardian Kozniku, and second and third-choice goalkeepers Marijan Mrmić and Vladimir Vasilj). On the other hand, six players appeared in all seven matches: goalkeeper Dražen Ladić, defender Slaven Bilić, midfielders Aljoša Asanović, Mario Stanić, Robert Jarni, and striker Davor Šuker.

Out of 11 goals scored by Croatia at the tournament, six were scored by Davor Šuker, who was awarded the Golden Shoe Award for the top goalscorer of the tournament, as well as the Silver Ball Award as the second most outstanding player of the tournament (behind Ronaldo of Brazil). Robert Prosinečki (who was retroactively given the 1990 FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award, where he had appeared for Yugoslavia), also scored two goals in matches against Jamaica and the Netherlands, which made him the only player in World Cup history to score goals at finals tournaments for two different countries.

For three players (Jarni, Prosinečki and Šuker) this was their second appearance at the World Cup, having been members of Yugoslavia squad at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Alen Bokšić would have been fourth, having been a key player in Croatia's qualifying campaign, but he was dropped from the tournament squad after sustaining an injury just months before the tournament in France.

Head coach: Miroslav Blažević
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Argentina 3 3 0 0 7 0 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Croatia 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
3  Jamaica 3 1 0 2 3 9 −6 3
4  Japan 3 0 0 3 1 4 −3 0
Source: FIFA
Jamaica 1–3 Croatia
Earle  45' Report Stanić  27'
Prosinečki  53'
Šuker  69'
Attendance: 38,100
Japan 0–1 Croatia
Report Šuker  77'
Attendance: 35,500
Argentina 1–0 Croatia
Pineda  36' Report
Attendance: 31,800

Round of 16
Romania 0–1 Croatia
Report Šuker  45+2' (pen.)
Attendance: 31,800

Quarter-finals
Germany 0–3 Croatia
Report Jarni  45+3'
Vlaović  80'
Šuker  85'
Attendance: 39,100

Semi-finals
France 2–1 Croatia
Thuram  47', 70' Report Šuker  46'
Attendance: 76,000

Third-place match
Netherlands 1–2 Croatia
Zenden  22' Report Prosinečki  14'
Šuker  36'
Attendance: 45,500

Legacy
Croatia's 3-5-2 lineup in the 1998 World Cup

By beating Netherlands, Croatia finished third in their World Cup debut, a feat matched only by Eusébio's Portugal in the 1966 World Cup 32 years earlier. Consequently, Croatia reached their highest ever FIFA ranking when they were third in the world for three months between January and March 1999 and were given the Best Mover of the Year Award in 1998, the only team so far which won the award twice (having been Best Movers in 1994). Upon returning to Croatia, the whole squad was decorated by President Franjo Tuđman, and were nicknamed "Brončani" ("The Bronze Ones") and "Vatreni'" ("The Fiery Ones") in the media. The latter stuck as a permanent nickname for the national team.

Most players continued playing for the team throughout the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifiers, but after Croatia failed to qualify manager Miroslav Blažević resigned and soon after that some of the players retired from the national team. The next manager Mirko Jozić kept some of the remaining members of the Bronze Generation and even took them to 2002 FIFA World Cup (such as Šuker, Prosinečki, Jarni, Stanić, Soldo, Vlaović, Šimić), but they failed to make an impact at the tournament and almost all of them retired soon afterwards, but a number of them later became prominent figures in Croatian football.

Zvonimir Boban went into sports publishing and took over as CEO of Croatia's sports daily Sportske novosti in 2005 and worked as a commentator for Italian television stations. Šuker launched his line of sports apparel and established a football academy carrying his name. Zvonimir Soldo, Robert Jarni, Slaven Bilić, Igor Štimac and Dražen Ladić all took up managing jobs (Soldo coached Dinamo Zagreb to a Double in 2008, while Jarni, Bilić and Štimac all had managerial spells at Hajduk Split). Štimac later became chairman of the association of Prva HNL clubs, the body regulating top flight football in Croatia, and Bilić took over as Croatia manager in 2006, hiring Aljoša Asanović, Robert Prosinečki and Marijan Mrmić as his assistants. Dražen Ladić took up managing the Croatia under-21 team in 2006, and Krunoslav Jurčić is the current manager at Dinamo Zagreb, having been appointed in 2009. Miroslav Blažević later managed a number of clubs in Croatia, Slovenia and Switzerland before taking over as Bosnia and Herzegovina manager in 2008 and sensationally leading them to the verge of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.

Croatia in Korea/Japan 2002

Squad
Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup squads
Croatia's 3–4–1-2 lineup at the 2002 World Cup
Head coach: Mirko Jozić
Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup Group G
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
Croatia 0–1 Mexico
Report Blanco  60' (pen.)
Attendance: 32,239
Referee: Lu Jun (China)
Italy 1–2 Croatia
Vieri  55' Report Olić  73'
Rapaić  76'
Attendance: 36,472
Referee: Graham Poll (England)
Ecuador 1–0 Croatia
Méndez  48' Report
Attendance: 65,862

Croatia in Germany 2006
Main article: Croatia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Squad
Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup squads
Croatia's 3–4–1–2 lineup at the 2006 World Cup
Head coach: Zlatko Kranjčar
Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Brazil 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Australia 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4
3  Croatia 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
4  Japan 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
Brazil 1–0 Croatia
 Report
Attendance: 72,000
Japan 0–0 Croatia
Report
Attendance: 41,000
Croatia 2–2 Australia
 Report
Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Graham Poll (England)

Croatia in Brazil 2014
Main article: Croatia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Squad
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup squads
Croatia's 4–2–3–1 lineup at the 2014 World Cup
Head coach:Niko Kovač
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Brazil (H) 3 2 1 0 7 2 +5 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Mexico 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7
3  Croatia 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
4  Cameroon 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
(H) Host.
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup Group A
Brazil 3–1 Croatia
 Report
Attendance: 62,103
Cameroon 0–4 Croatia
Report
Attendance: 39,982
Croatia 1–3 Mexico
 Report
Attendance: 41,212

Croatia in Russia 2018
Main article: Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Squad
Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup squads
Croatia's 4–3–3 lineup at the 2018 World Cup
Head coach: Zlatko Dalić
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Croatia 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Argentina 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4
3  Nigeria 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3
4  Iceland 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D
Croatia 2–0 Nigeria
 Report
Attendance: 31,136[2]
Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil)
Argentina 0–3 Croatia
Report
Attendance: 43,319[3]
Iceland 1–2 Croatia
 Report
Attendance: 43,472[4]

Round of 16
Croatia 1–1 (a.e.t.) Denmark
 Report
Penalties
 3–2
Attendance: 40,851[5]

Quarter-finals
Russia 2–2 (a.e.t.) Croatia
 Report
Penalties
 3–4
Attendance: 44,287[6]
Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil)

Semi-finals
Croatia 2–1 (a.e.t.) England
 Report
Attendance: 78,011[7]

Final
France 4–2 Croatia
 Report
Attendance: 78,011[8]

List of matches
World Cup Round Opponent Score Result Venue Scorers
1998Group stage Jamaica3–1WLensStanić, Prosinečki, Šuker
 Japan1–0WNantesŠuker
 Argentina0–1LBordeaux—
Round of 16 Romania1–0WBordeauxŠuker
Quarter-final Germany3–0WLyonJarni, Vlaović, Šuker
Semi-final France1–2LSaint-DenisŠuker
Third place match Netherlands2–1WParisProsinečki, Šuker
2002Group stage Mexico0–1LNiigata—
 Italy2–1WIbarakiOlić, Rapaić
 Ecuador0–1LYokohama—
2006Group stage Brazil0–1LBerlin—
 Japan0–0DNuremberg—
 Australia2–2DStuttgartSrna, N. Kovač
2014Group stage Brazil1–3LSão PauloMarcelo (o.g.)
 Cameroon4–0WManausOlić, Perišić, Mandžukić (2)
 Mexico1–3LRecifePerišić
2018Group stage Nigeria2–0WKaliningradEtebo (o.g.), Modrić
 Argentina3–0WNizhny NovgorodRebić, Modrić, Rakitić
 Iceland2–1WRostov-on-DonBadelj, Perišić
Round of 16 Denmark1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–2 p)		WNizhny NovgorodMandžukić
Quarter-finals Russia2–2 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)		WSochiKramarić, Vida
Semi-finals England2–1 (a.e.t.)WMoscowPerišić, Mandžukić
Final France2–4LMoscowPerišić, Mandžukić

Players with most appearances
Luka Modrić became Croatia's record World Cup player when he captained his team in the final of the 2018 tournament.
In 1998, Davor Šuker became the oldest Golden Boot winner ever at age 30 and went on to become the president of the Croatian Football Federation in 2012.
The Croatia national football team in Russia 2018

Luka Modrić is the only Croatian player to ever win the Golden Ball award. He was team captain in 2018, when Croatia reached the World Cup final.

No. Name Matches World Cups
1 Luka Modrić122006, 2014 and 2018
2 Dario Šimić111998, 2002 and 2006
3 Robert Jarni*101998 and 2002
Dejan Lovren102014 and 2018
Ivan Perišić102014 and 2018
Ivan Rakitić102014 and 2018
7 Mario Stanić91998 and 2002
Stipe Pletikosa92002, 2006 and 2014
Ante Rebić92014 and 2018
10 Zvonimir Soldo81998 and 2002
Davor Šuker81998 and 2002
Ivica Olić82002, 2006 and 2014
Šime Vrsaljko82014 and 2018
Mateo Kovačić82014 and 2018
Mario Mandžukić82014 and 2018

*Robert Jarni also played one match at the 1990 World Cup, representing SFR Yugoslavia.

Goalscorers
No. Name Goals World Cups
1Davor Šuker61998
2 Ivan Perišić52014 (2) and 2018 (3)
Mario Mandžukić52014 (2) and 2018 (3)
4 Robert Prosinečki*21998
Ivica Olić22002 and 2014
Luka Modrić22018

*Robert Prosinečki also scored one goal at the 1990 World Cup, representing SFR Yugoslavia.

Awards

Team Awards

  • Third Place 1998
  • Second Place 2018

Individual Awards

Squads

See also

References
  1. "History of the World Cup Final Draw" (PDF). FIFA.com. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  2. "Match report – Group D – Croatia v Nigeria" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  3. "Match report – Group D – Argentina v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  4. "Match report – Group D – Iceland v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  5. "Match report – Round of 16 – Croatia v Denmark" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 1 July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  6. "Match report – Quarter-final – Russia v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  7. "Match report – Semi-final – Croatia v England" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  8. "Match report – Final – France v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
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