Croatia National Football Team

Croatia are one of football's most extraordinary modern federations. The Hrvatski nogometni savez was founded in 1991 after Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, recognised by FIFA in 1992 — and the senior team has subsequently produced, from a population of just 3.8 million, two World Cup medal finishes (runners-up in 2018 and third in 2022, the latter their second straight bronze-medal finish), one third-place finish in their 1998 World Cup debut, and the 2023 Nations League runners-up appearance. Croatia's rise from FIFA No. 125 on admission in 1994 to No. 3 in 1999 remains the fastest and most volatile ascension in FIFA ranking history. The 1998 World Cup squad of Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker (the tournament's Golden Boot winner with six goals), Robert Prosinečki and Robert Jarni produced the bronze medal on their tournament debut — a result no other federation has ever matched. The Luka Modrić generation that followed, anchored by Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, Mario Mandžukić and Dejan Lovren, took the country to the 2018 final in Russia (lost 4-2 to France) and the 2022 third-place playoff win over Morocco. Zlatko Dalić, head coach since 2017, is now the longest-serving senior coach in Croatian football history. Captain Luka Modrić at age 40 in the tournament summer — playing what is openly described in Croatian press as his last World Cup — is the centrepiece of the squad. The supporting cast combines Modrić with Joško Gvardiol (Manchester City), Mateo Kovačić (Manchester City), Andrej Kramarić (Hoffenheim), Borna Sosa (Ajax) and the breakout 21-year-old creative attacking talent Petar Sučić (Dinamo Zagreb). Goalkeeper Dominik Livaković anchors the defensive structure.

Croatia's 1998 World Cup debut performance — finishing third in their first ever appearance, with Davor Šuker scoring six goals to claim the Golden Boot — remains the most romantic single-tournament arc in modern football. The 3-0 quarter-final win over Germany in Lyon, in which Šuker scored, Jarni scored from a free-kick, and Vlaović added the third late on, is the moment Croatia announced itself as a serious international football presence. The semi-final defeat to host nation France 2-1 was a tactical loss; the 2-1 third-place playoff win over the Netherlands in Paris three days later sealed the bronze medal. The 2018 World Cup final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 15 July 2018 — Croatia losing 4-2 to France after Mario Mandžukić's 28th-minute own goal, Ivan Perišić's equaliser, and a Griezmann-Pogba-Mbappé combination that punished Croatia in the final third — was the closest the country has come to lifting the trophy. Luka Modrić won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player; the seven-match Croatia campaign included three extra-time fixtures and two penalty shoot-out wins. Dominik Livaković's three penalty saves against Japan in the round of 16 at Qatar 2022 — saving from Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida in a 3-1 shoot-out win after a 1-1 draw — are now folklore in Croatian goalkeeping coverage. Livaković added two more saves against Brazil in the quarter-final shoot-out (Brazil missed once via Marquinhos's strike against the post; Livaković saved from Rodrygo) to send Croatia to the semi-final, where they lost 3-0 to eventual champions Argentina.