Croatia national football team
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| Croatia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname | Vatreni ("Fiery ones") | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association | Hrvatski nogometni savez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Slaven Bilić |
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| Captain | Niko Kovač | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Dario Šimić (83) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Davor Šuker (45) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Maksimir Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | CRO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 3 (January 1999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 125 (March 1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 5 (July 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international Croatia 2–1 U.S.A.  (Zagreb, Croatia; 17 October 1990) (but see text) |
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Biggest win Croatia 7–0 Australia  (Zagreb, Croatia; 6 June 1998) Croatia 7–0 Andorra  (Zagreb, Croatia; 7 October 2006) |
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Biggest defeat Slovakia 4–1 Croatia (Bratislava, Slovakia (but see text) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 3 (First in 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Third place, 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Quarterfinals, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Croatian national football team represents Croatia in international matches and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation. The team has been in existence since 1990 and was recognised by FIFA and UEFA in the summer of 1992, one year after Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia.
The team played their first competitive matches in the qualifying campaign for the Euro 1996 and qualified for the finals to make their first appearance in a major international tournament. They have been a strong force in international football ever since, finishing third in the 1998 World Cup, led by Golden Boot winner Davor Šuker. They have qualified for every World Cup that they have entered as an independent nation.
The team was FIFA's "Best Mover of the Year" in 1994 and 1998, and have been more volatile in the FIFA World Rankings than any other nation, having been rated as high as third, and as low as 125th. They are still undefeated in all competitive matches they played on home soil since 1994. They also qualified for both 2002 and 2006 World Cups without losing a qualifying match.
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[edit] Earlier history
Football was played in Croatia from the beginning of the 20th century, but before the 1990s the country was not independent. Before that, the players from Croatia participated in the teams of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1919–39), Banovina of Croatia (1939–41), Independent State of Croatia (1941–45) and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–90).
For the Yugoslav periods, see Yugoslavia national football team.
Due to political circumstances in Kingdom of Yugoslavia shortly before World War II, Croatian sports teams were allowed to compete under Croatian flag, so the first international of Croatia could be considered a 4–0 victory over Switzerland played in Zagreb on 2 April 1940.
[edit] World Cup record
- 1930 to 1990 - Was part of Yugoslavia
- 1994 - Did not enter, was not a full FIFA member until July 1992
- 1998 - Third place
- 2002 - First round (Third place in Group G)
- 2006 - First round (Third place in Group F)
[edit] European Championship record
- 1960 to 1992 - Did not enter, was part of Yugoslavia
- 1996 - Quarterfinals
- 2000 - Did not qualify
- 2004 - First round
[edit] Famous past players
- Aljoša Asanović
- Slaven Bilić
- Zvonimir Boban
- Alen Bokšić
- Robert Jarni
- Dražen Ladić
- Ivica Mornar
- Robert Prosinečki
- Dado Pršo
- Zvonimir Soldo
- Mario Stanić
- Igor Štimac
- Goran Vlaović
- Davor Šuker
[edit] Current Squad (Euro '08 Qualifiers)
Caps correct as of March 24, 2007.
[edit] Goalkeepers
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[edit] Defenders
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[edit] Midfielders
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[edit] Strikers
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[edit] Other recently called players
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[edit] 2006 World Cup Information
For more in-depth information, see Croatia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Croatia finished third in their group, amassing only 2 points. Australia finished 2nd place on 4 points, Brazil topped the group on 9 points, and Japan finished last in the group with 1 point.
[edit] Coaches
- Dražan Jerković, 1990–91
- Stanko Poklepović, 1992
- Vlatko Marković, 1993
- Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević, 1994–2000
- Mirko Jozić, 2000–02
- Otto Barić, 2002–04
- Zlatko Kranjčar, 2004–06
- Slaven Bilić, 2006-present
[edit] Famous matches
- Croatia 2–1 U.S.A.
Maksimir Stadium (30,000 spectators) - Zagreb, 17 October 1990 - friendly match
Spain 0–2 Croatia
Estadio Mestalla (40,000) - Valencia, 23 March 1994 - friendly match
Italy 1–2 Croatia
Stadio Renzo Barbera (39,000) - Palermo, 16 November 1994 - Euro '96 qualifying match
- Croatia 1–0 Turkey
City Ground (20,000) - Nottingham, 11 June 1996 - Euro '96 first round match
- Croatia 3–0 Denmark
Hillsborough Stadium (30,000) - Sheffield, 16 June 1996 - Euro '96 first round match
Germany 2–1 Croatia
Old Trafford (36,000) - Manchester, 23 June 1996 - Euro '96 quarterfinal match
Greece 0–1 Croatia
Kaftanzoglio Stadium (35,000) - Thessaloniki, 30 April 1997 - World Cup '98 qualifying match
Ukraine 1–1 Croatia
Olimpiysky stadion (77,500) - Kiev, 15 November 1997 - World Cup '98 play-off match
- Croatia 3–1 Jamaica
Stade Félix Bollaert (40,000) - Lens, 14 June 1998 - World Cup '98 first round match
- Croatia 1–0 Japan
Stade de la Beaujoire (39,500) - Nantes, 20 June 1998 - World Cup '98 first round match
- Croatia 3–0 Germany
Stade Gerland (50,000) - Lyon, 4 July 1998 - World Cup '98 quarterfinal match
France 2-1 Croatia
Stade de France (80,000) - Paris, 8 July 1998 - World Cup '98 semifinal match
- Croatia 2–1 Netherlands
Parc des Princes (50,000) - Paris, 11 July 1998 - World Cup '98 third place match
Yugoslavia 0-0 Croatia
Stadion Crvena Zvezda (47,000) - Belgrade, 18 August 1999 - Euro 2000 qualifying match
- Croatia 1–0 Belgium
Maksimir Stadium (35,000) - Zagreb, 6 October 2001 - World Cup '02 qualifying match
- Croatia 2–1 Italy
Kashima Stadium (36,500) - Ibaraki, 8 June 2002 - World Cup '02 first round match
- Croatia 4–0 Belgium
Maksimir Stadium (19,000) - Zagreb, 12 October 2002 - Euro '04 qualifying match
Slovenia 0-1 Croatia
Stadion Bežigrad (10,000) - Ljubljana, 19 November 2003 - Euro '04 play-off match
- France 2-2 Croatia
Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa (29,000) - Leiria, 17 June 2004 - Euro '04 first round match
- Croatia 1–1 Brazil
Poljud Stadium (30,000) - Split, 17 August 2005 - friendly match
- Croatia 2–0 England
Maksimir Stadium (40,000) - Zagreb, 11 October 2006 - Euro '08 qualifying match
- Croatia 2–1 Norway
Stadion na Kantridi (8,000) - Rijeka, 07 February 2007 - friendly match
[edit] External links
- Official Croatian Football Federation(HNS) page
- Croatia - International Matches, at RSSSF
- Croatia - Record International Players, at RSSSF
- JadranSport.org - South-Eastern European football news coverage (English language)
- Croatian Football Sites - Top list
- NogoNet.com - Croatian soccer news portal
