Croatia national football team

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The Croatian national football team has played since Croatia's independence in 1990–92 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 October 17, 1990 and June 22, 2006, Croatia has played 148 international games and had 72 victories, 45 draws and 31 losses. The team has been FIFA's "Best Mover of the Year" in 1994 and 1998.

Contents

1 Earlier history
2 World Cup record
3 European Championship record
4 Famous past players
5
6
7 Other current players
8 Coaches
9 Past squads and campaigns
10 External links

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.

World Cup record

1930 to 1990 - Was part of Yugoslavia''
1994 - Did not enter, was too late to participate in the qualifying matches
1998 - Third place
2002 - First round (Third place in Group G)
2006 - First round (Third place in Group F)

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

Head coach: Zlatko Kranjčar
Caps correct as of June 22, 2006
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Team captain: Niko Kovač

For more in-depth information, see Croatia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Croatia finished third in their group, amassing only 2 points, while second place Australia had 4. They did not advance.

Other current players

The following players weren't among the 24 called up to the 2006 World Cup, but are slated to play for the national team by the current coach.

Eduardo da Silva (Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia)
Davor Vugrinec (Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia)
Mladen Petrić (FC Basel, Switzerland)
Dario Knežević (NK Rijeka, Croatia)

Coaches

Past squads and campaigns

Euro 2004 squad and campaign

External links

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|- style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;" |

Asia: AFC – Asian Cup

Africa: CAF – African Cup of Nations

North America: CONCACAF – Gold Cup

South America: CONMEBOL – Copa América

Oceania: OFC – Nations Cup

Europe: UEFA – European Championship

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|- style="text-align:center;" | Champions: Italy

Runners-up: France

Third place: Germany

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Croatia national football team

Earlier history

World Cup record

European Championship record

Famous past players

For more in-depth information, see Croatia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Croatia finished third in their group, amassing only 2 points, while second place Australia had 4. They did not advance.

Other current players

Coaches

Past squads and campaigns

External links

For more in-depth information, see Croatia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Croatia finished third in their group, amassing only 2 points, while second place Australia had 4. They did not advance.