CROATIA NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM
FIFA RANKING: 14
GOVERNING BODY:-
Croatian Football Federation (HNS)
CAPTAIN:-
Luka Modrić
COACH:-
Zlatko Dalić
MOST CAPPED PLAYER:-
Luka Modrić
TOP SCORER:-
Davor Šuker (45 goals)
STAR PLAYERS:-
Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Šime Vrsaljko, Mateo Kovačić, Ante Rebić
NICKNAMES:-
Vatreni (The Blazers), Kockasti (The Chequered Ones)
RIVALS:-
Czech Republic
England
France
Germany
Italy
Serbia
Spain
Turkey
WORLD CUP:-
Appearances: 5
Best Result: Runners-up (2018)
EUROS:-
Appearances: 6
Best Result: Quarterfinals (1996, 2008)
The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in men’s international football matches and is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS).
Most home matches are played at the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb, although other smaller venues are also used occasionally.
This is one of the youngest national teams (since formation) to reach the knockout stage of a major tournament, as well as the youngest team to occupy the top 10 in the FIFA World Rankings.
The team was recognised by both FIFA and UEFA following the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
However, national sides were active during periods of political upheaval, representing sovereign states such as the Banovina of Croatia from 1939 to 1941, or the Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1944.
Before the current team was formed, most Croatian players represented Yugoslavia instead.
The modern-day team has played competitive matches since 1994, starting with the qualifying campaign for the 1996 European Championship.
In 1998, they competed in their first FIFA World Cup, finishing 3rd and providing the tournament’s top scorer, Davor Šuker. Exactly twenty years later, Croatia reached the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final.
Among other nicknames, the team is colloquially referred to as the Vatreni (Blazers) or the Kockasti (The Chequered Ones). In the Italian-speaking counties, the team is known as Il furioso incendio (The Blazing Fire).
Since becoming eligible to compete, Croatia has only failed to qualify for two major tournaments: the 2000 European Championship and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Their biggest defeat came in 2018 with a 6–0 loss to Spain, while their highest-scoring victory was a 10–0 friendly win over San Marino in 2016.
The team has certain rivalries such as the Derby Adriatico with Italy or the politically charged rivalry with Serbia, both of which have led to disruptive matches.
The team represents the second-smallest country by population and landmass to reach the World Cup final, behind Uruguay and Netherlands respectively.
At major tournaments, Croatia holds joint records for the longest period between one goal and another of a player (2002–2014), most penalty shootouts played (2), most extra time periods played (3) and most penalties saved in a match (3).
They are also one of only two teams—along with Colombia—to be named FIFA’s “Best Mover of the Year” more than once, winning the award in 1994 and 1998.
Upon admission to FIFA, Croatia was ranked 125th in the world. Following the 1998 World Cup campaign, the side rose to third place in the rankings, making it the most volatile team in FIFA Rankings history.
Football in Croatia
Football in Croatia, called nogomet, is the most popular sport in the country and is led by the Croatian Football Federation.
It is played in four official components – the domestic league consists of three hierarchical echelons, and a single national team represents the entire state.
The first Croat clubs were founded prior to the First World War and participated in the Yugoslavian league structure after Croatia became a part of Yugoslavia following the war.
From 1940 to 1944, nineteen friendly matches were played by a Croatia national side representing the Second World War-era puppet states of the Banovina of Croatia and the Independent State of Croatia.
After the war, most of the prominent Yugoslavian clubs, including clubs in Croatia, were dissolved and replaced with new sides by Marshal Tito’s Communist regime.
Today, club football in Croatia is dominated by Dinamo Zagreb. Since independence, the country has produced a string of players who have performed well in many of Europe’s most highly regarded leagues and who took the national team to third place at the 1998 World Cup and the final at the 2018 World Cup.
Croatian Football League System
The Croatian (HNL) Football System
Leagues
Tier 1 – Prva HNL
The Croatian First Football League, also known as Prva HNL or 1. HNL or, for sponsorship reasons, the Hrvatski Telekom Prva Liga, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992.
The winners and second-placed team enter the qualifying stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Dinamo Zagreb are the most successful Croatian club with 21 titles overall. They are followed by Hajduk Split with six titles. Rijeka and NK Zagreb each have won one title.
Tier 2 – Druga HNL
The Croatian Second Football League or, more commonly, Druga HNL or 2. HNL is the second tier of the football league system in Croatia.
The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Second League.
The 2. HNL is operated by the Croatian Football Federation, which also was formed in 1991, contributing (along with the newly formed Football Association of Slovenia) to the dissolution of the Football Association of Yugoslavia.
Between the 2001–02 season and 2005–06 season, the league was split into two divisions, one being the Northern Croatian Second League and the other being the Southern Croatian Second League.
Each of these two leagues comprised twelve teams playing under a system pretty much identical to the one in the Prva HNL.
However, since the start of the 2006–07 season, the united Croatian Second League comprises twelve teams from the entire country.
Relegation from this division is into one of the regional divisions of the Treća HNL.
Tier 3 – Treća HNL
The Croatian Third Football League, or commonly Treća HNL or 3. HNL is the third tier of the football league system in Croatia.
The league was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Croatian Football Federation.
Tier 4 – Četvrta HNL
The Croatian Fourth League, or commonly 1. ŽNL is a county-based fourth level league in the Croatian football league system.
Tier 5 – First Leagues
The 5th tier of Croatian football has the First Leagues of the 21 counties of the country.
- First League of Istria County
14 clubs - First League of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County
12 clubs - League of Lika-Senj County
7 clubs - First League of Zagreb
17 clubs - JŽNL Zagreb County
18 clubs - First League of Sisak-Moslavina County
18 clubs - First League of Karlovac County
10 clubs - First League of Krapina-Zagorje County
14 clubs - First League of Međimurje County
17 clubs - First League of Varaždin County
14 clubs - First League of Bjelovar-Bilogora County
14 clubs - First League of Koprivnica-Križevci County
14 clubs - First League of Virovitica-Podravina County
16 clubs - First League of Osijek-Baranja County
16 clubs - First league of Vukovar-Syrmia County
18 clubs - First League of Brod-Posavina County
28 clubs (2 groups) - First League of Požega-Slavonia County
14 clubs - First League of Dubrovnik-Neretva County
12 clubs - First League of Split-Dalmatia County
14 clubs - League of Šibenik-Knin County
7 clubs - First League of Zadar County
14 clubs
Tier 6 – Second Leagues
This is the 6th level of Croatian club football. This features 19 counties.
- Second League of Istria County
14 clubs - Second League of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County
9 clubs - Second League of Zagreb
16 clubs - First League of Zagreb County
33 clubs (2 groups) - Second League of Sisak-Moslavina County
38 clubs (3 groups) - Second League of Karlovac County
14 clubs - Second League of Krapina-Zagorje County
11 clubs - Second League of Međimurje County
32 clubs (2 groups) - Second League of Varaždin County
16 clubs - Second League of Bjelovar-Bilogora County
14 clubs - Second League of Koprivnica-Križevci County
14 clubs - Second League of Virovitica-Podravina County
20 clubs (2 groups) - Second league of Osijek-Baranja County
68 club (5 groups) - Second League of Vukovar-Syrmia County
24 club (3 groups) - Second League of Brod-Posavina County
41 clubs (4 groups) - Second League of Požega-Slavonia County
8 clubs - Second League of Dubrovnik-Neretva County
8 clubs - Second League of Split-Dalmatia County
11 clubs - Second League of Zadar County
7 clubs
7th Tier – Third Leagues
The final tier of Croatian football’s league system is the 7th tier, which has 12 county leagues known as the Third Leagues.
- Third League of Istria County
19 clubs (2 groups) - Second League of Zagreb County
18 clubs (2 groups) - Third League of Međimurje County
9 clubs - Third League of Varaždin County
19 clubs (2 groups) - Third League of Bjelovar-Bilogora County
20 clubs (2 groups) - Third League of Koprivnica-Križevci County
20 clubs (2 groups) - Third League of Virovitica-Podravina County
15 clubs (2 groups) - Third League of Osijek-Baranja County
50 clubs (5 groups) - Third League of Vukovar-Syrmia County
17 clubs (2 groups) - Third League of Brod-Posavina County
28 clubs (3 groups) - Third League of Požega-Slavonia County
9 clubs - Third League of Split-Dalmatia County
10 clubs
Cups
Croatian Football Cup
The Croatian Football Cup, also colloquially known as Rabuzinovo sunce, is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the Prva HNL championship.
It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) and usually runs from late August to late May.
Cup winners automatically qualify for next season’s UEFA Europa Conference League, except when cup winners are also Prva HNL champions, in which case their berth in the Europa Conference League goes to the best-placed team in the Prva HNL who haven’t qualified for the UEFA competitions through their league performance.
The cup was established in 1992 after Croatian clubs had abandoned the Yugoslav First League and Yugoslav Cup competitions following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
The competition has historically been dominated by the two Eternal Derby sides—the most successful club is Dinamo Zagreb (formerly known in the 1990s as HAŠK Građanski and Croatia Zagreb) who appeared in 22 finals and won 15 titles, followed by Hajduk Split who won 6 titles out of 11 finals they appeared in.
Either Dinamo or Hajduk appeared in all but three cup finals (in 1999, 2006 and 2020) and only three other clubs have won the cup—Rijeka (six wins), Inter Zaprešić (one win) and Osijek (one win).
Although clubs can qualify for the cup via regional county cups, which are usually contested by second-, third- or fourth-level sides, Uljanik Pula in 2003 was the only team in the history of the competition to have reached the cup final from outside the top level.
Croatian Football Super Cup
The Croatian Supercup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian First League and the Croatian Football Cup.
The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season and is only held when different clubs win the two most important competitions in the previous season (i.e. the match is not played when a club completes The Domestic Double).
Since the establishment of Croatian football competitions in 1992, the two local powerhouses Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split won Doubles on twelve occasions (Dinamo Zagreb 11, Hajduk Split 1, Rijeka 1).
The Super Cup wasn’t held in periods between 1995–2001, 2007–2009, 2011–2012 and 2015–2018. On three occasions the Supercup was not played for various reasons – in 1999 Dinamo refused to play Osijek saying the fixture did not fit into their schedule and in 2000 and 2001 Hajduk and Dinamo could not agree on the rules and whether it should be played as a single match or over two legs, and in what order.
In 2002, the Croatian Football Federation took over the organisation of the Super Cup and made it an official single-legged fixture, with 30 minutes of extra time followed by a penalty shootout if necessary, which must be played a week before the following football season kicks off.