A talented Croatian squad could go far providing they start brightly at the World Cup. Get the lowdown ahead of just their fifth finals appearance.
Croatia Factfile
- FIFA World Ranking: 18
- Sky Bet outright winner odds: 33/1
- Best bet: Argentina and Croatia both to finish top two in Group D at 10/11
- World Cup appearances: 4
- Best World Cup finish: 3rd (1998)
- Nickname - Vatreni (The Blazers)
Coach - Zlatko Dalic: Having coached in Croatia, Albania and in the Arabian Gulf, Dalic got the job as caretaker coach in October last year, before being handed the role full-time a month later. Dalic has experience with the national team as an assistant coach in the Under-21s.
Legend - Davor Suker: Croatia’s all-time top goal scorer, netting 45 in 69. He won the 1998 World Cup Golden Shoe, as well as winning runner-up in the ballon d’Or in the same year. He also made it into the UEFA Euro team of the year in 1996.
Star man - Luka Modric: Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric is just one of a variety of talents gracing the current Croatian national team. The ex-Spurs man will be in fine fettle after capturing another Champions League winning medal this season.
Did you know? A lot of the HBO series Game of Thrones is filmed in Croatian’s scenic Dalmatian coast. Fans of the show will recognise ‘King’s Landing’ in the seaside town of Dubrovnik.
Fun Fact: Davor Suker was the only Croatian to feature in Pele's list of the 125 greatest players of all time - selected back in 2004 to mark FIFA's 100th anniversary.
Qualifying: They suffered a bit of an upset as they could only finish second behind Iceland in Group I, but beat Greece 4-1 on aggregate in the play-offs.
Fixtures: Nigeria (8pm, June 16, Kaliningrad), Argentina (7pm, June 21, Nizhny Novgorod), Iceland (7pm, June 26, Rostov-On-Don)
Croatia squad
Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic (Monaco), Lovre Kalinic (Gent), Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb).
Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Domagoj Vida (Besiktas), Ivan Strinic (Sampdoria), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid), Josip Pivaric (Dynamo Kiev), Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen), Duje Caleta-Car (Red Bull Salzburg).
Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Filip Bradaric (Rijeka).
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Nikola Kalinic (AC Milan), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Marko Pjaca (Schalke), Ante Rebic (Eintracht Frankfurt).
Croatia Profile
A great footballing nation of the 21st century, still relatively new to the World Cup. This will be just their fifth appearance at the competition since becoming an independent country.
They have been inconsistent en route to Russia, from one extreme to another in performance levels.
Managed by Zlatko Dalic only since October, he is assisted by former Croatia and Bayern Munich striker Ivica Olic and will be hoping to guide the Vatreni to the knockout stages at least.
Who to watch out for
Rivals throughout the season and key to their hopes when it comes to internationals, Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric make up the heartbeat of this team.
Of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, they are real world stars and possess the quality that can help Dalic’s men go far.
Up front they have Juventus’ powerhouse striker Mario Mandzukic, Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic, with a few other men from Serie A such as Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic – also an international volleyball player – Marcelo Brozovic and AC Milan’s Nikola Kalinic, once of Blackburn.
Former Man City and Spurs defender Vedran Corluka, somehow still only 32, provides experience in defence along with Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren.
How did they qualify?
Croatia qualified by finishing second in their group behind Iceland, having won six, drawn two and lost two games. They then progressed to the second-round of qualification, where they beat Greece in a play-off 4-1 over two-legs.
Any interesting facts about Croatia?
The Dalmatian coast is in fact where the popular breed of dog originates from.
Croatia is said to be home to the world’s smallest town according to the Guinness World Book of Records. Hum, known as the ‘sleepy town’ has what is estimated to be a population of between 17 and 23 inhabitants.
Any famous football moments?
Croatia were admitted to FIFA as an independent nation in July 1992, but it took another year for them to be admitted by UEFA meaning that they missed out on qualification for the World Cup in 1994.
However, they made up for that over the next two tournaments as they showcased their ability at Euro 96 before really making their mark in France 98 when they went on to finish third in the competition.
The team was littered with talent, behind striker Davor Suker who won the World Cup Golden Boot in France with six goals in seven games.
The highlight of that run was a 3-0 win over Germany in the quarter-finals and that still ranks as one of their best results to date.
Follow Sporting Life on social media - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLife
Odds correct as of 1100 BST 29/05/18