Croatia national football team

Croatia, Italy, Netherlands and Spain will contest the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League finals after topping their League A groups. Spain (2021) and the Netherlands (2019) were runners-up in the first two editions while Italy finished third two years ago. For Croatia, the tournament in June will be their first finals appearance. UEFA.com checks out the four contenders' road to the semi-finals, tactics and players of interest ahead of June's last-four fixtures. What are the Nations League finals fixtures? Semi-finals Wednesday 14 June: Thursday 15 June: Match for third place Sunday 18 June: Netherlands/Croatia vs Spain/Italy (Enschede, 15:00 CET) Final Sunday 18 June: Netherlands/Croatia vs Spain/Italy (Rotterdam, 20:45 CET) How they qualified Not many gave Croatia much hope when they were thumped 3-0 at home by Austria in their opening Group A1 game. The outlook wasn't much improved by a 1-1 draw with France in Split, but Zlatko Dalić's charges then showed their mettle with two victories against Denmark sandwiching a fine 1-0 win in France. They then held their nerve in Austria to prevail 3-1 thanks to a pair of vital goals in the last 21 minutes. "In the end, the win was deserved," said captain Luka Modrić. "I am very happy we are in the top four." 03/06/2022 06/06/2022 10/06/2022 13/06/2022 22/09/2022 25/09/2022 Watch all Croatia's league phase goals Tactics Dalić is most comfortable using a 4-3-3 formation, occasionally switching to 4-2-3-1 – albeit with little difference ...

Croatia’s complete roster for the 2022 World Cup Goalkeepers • Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb, CRO) • Ivica Ivusic (Osijek, CRO) • Ivo Grbic (Atlético Madrid, ESP) Defenders • Domagoj Vida (AEK, GRE) • Dejan Lovren (Zenit, RUS) • Borna Barisic (Rangers, SCO) • Josip Juranovic (Celtic, SCO) • Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig, GER) • Borna Sosa (Stuttgart, GER) • Josip Stanisic (Bayern, GER) • Martin Erlic (Sassuolo, ITA) • Josip Sutalo (Dinamo Zagreb, CRO) Midfielders • Luka Modric (Real Madrid, ESP) • Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea, ENG) • Marcelo Brozovic (Inter, ITA) • Mario Pasalic (Atalanta, ITA) • Lovro Majer (Stade Rennes, FRA) • Nikola Vlasic (Torino, ITA) • Kristijan Jakik (Eintracht Frankfurt, GER) • Luka Sucic (Salzburg, AUS)

Croatia's run to the World Cup final in 2018 set a new standard for them as an independent nation, after previously reaching the semifinals of France 1998. With a squad filled with UEFA Champions League talent, Zlatko Dalic's side finally clicked together on the world stage four years ago, to storm past Denmark, Russia and England, before losing out to France in the title decider. However, they have regrouped since then, despite a last-16 exit at Euro 2020, and Dalic is looking to drag one more big-tournament performance from his veteran stars in Qatar. Captained by Real Madrid star Luka Modric, Croatia boast one of the most experienced squads at the World Cup, and Dalic is relying on that crucial know-how to drive their momentum once again. They weren't at their best in the group stages, but have the quality to test anyone in the crucial moments now we are in knockout play. MORE: Croatia World Cup squad 2022 Head coach Dalic named his final squad on November 9. The most notable inclusion was that of midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, who had been an injury doubt in the weeks leading up to the tournament. He suffered a hamstring issue in late September, and missed all of October. Having made his return to club action with Inter just in time, playing a handful of minutes in the November 6 Derby d'Italia against Juventus, he was included in the final squad. Defender Domagoj Vidahad also been under discussion after reportedly also being an injury doubt but he appears fine. By far t...

The first match of the Croatian national team, which then represented the state of Banovina Hrvatska, was played. On April 2nd, Croatia beat Switzerland in Zagreb 4:0. Representing Banovina Hrvatska and Nezavisna Država Hrvatska (The Independent State of Croatia), the Croatian national team played 19 matches, with nine wins, four draws and six defeats.