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Croatia

Croatia

Nickname	Vatreni (Fiery)
Association	Croatian Football Federation
Coach	Zlatko Kranjčar, 2004-
Most caps	Robert Jarni (81)
Top scorer	Davor Šuker (45)
First international Croatia 2 - 1 U.S.A. (Zagreb, Croatia; 17 October 1990)
Largest win Croatia 7 - 0 Australia (Zagreb, Croatia; 6 June 1998)
Worst defeat Slovakia 4 - 1 Croatia (Bratislava, Slovakia; 20 April 1994) Portugal 3 - 0 Croatia (Nottingham, England; 19 June 1996) France 3 - 0 Croatia (Saint-Denis, France; 13 November 1999)
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 has played since Croatia's independence in 1990-1992 and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation.

The team played in their first major tournament in 1996 and 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.

Between 1990 and 2004, Croatia has played 115 international games and had 56 victories, 36 draws and 23 losses. The team has been FIFA's "Best Mover of the Year" in 1994 and 1998.

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 (1919-1939), Banovina of Croatia (1939-1941), Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1990).

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.
During World War II, a Croatian Football Federation representing the puppet state Independent State of Croatia joined FIFA, and played with the teams of the Axis powers. In this period, the team recorded record losses: Germany 5 - 1 Croatia in Vienna, Austria (15 June 1941) and Germany 5 - 1 Croatia in Stuttgart, Germany (1 November 1942).

World Cup record

1930 to 1990 - Did not enter, was part of Yugoslavia
1994 - Did not enter
1998 - Third place
2002 - Round 1
2006 - Qualified

European Championship record

1960 to 1992 - Did not enter, was part of Yugoslavia
1996 - Quarterfinals
2000 - Did not qualify
2004 - First round

Famous past players

Aljoša Asanović
Slaven Bilić
Zvonimir Boban
Alen Bokšić
Robert Jarni
Dražen Ladić
Robert Prosinečki
Zvonimir Soldo
Mario Stanić
Igor Štimac
Davor Šuker
Milan Rapaic

Current squad

Goalkeepers:

Tomislav Butina 1
Joey Didulica
Stipe Pletikosa 12
Ivan Turina

Defenders:

Robert Kovač 4
Igor Tudor5
Josip Šimunić 3
Stjepan Tomas
Mario Tokić
Mato Neretljak
Dario Šimić 14

Midfielders:

Darijo Srna 2
Jurica Vranješ
Niko Kovač 10
Marko Babić 8
Niko Kranjčar 19
Ivan Leko
Luka Modrić
Jerko Leko
Daniel Pranjić

Forwards:

Dado Pršo 9
Ivan Klasnić 17
Boško Balaban
Eduardo Da Silva
Ivica Olić 18
Ivan Bošnjak 15

Coaches

Dražen Jerković, 1990-1991
Stanko Poklepović, 1992
Vlatko Marković, 1993
Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević, 1994-2000
Mirko Jozić, 2000-2002
Otto Barić, 2002-2004
Zlatko Kranjčar, 2004-present

External links

• Croatia - International Matches, at RSSSF
• Croatia - Record International Players, at RSSSF

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This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.