2022 World Cup Team Profile: Croatia
JAKARTA - The Croatian national football team consists of professional football players who represent Croatia in international matches. The Checkered Ones are famous for their outstanding performance at the 2018 World Cup Russia. They advanced to the World Cup final by beating teams like England and Argentina.
There are many factors that make the Croatia squad very strong. They are one of the best European teams at the moment. With a line of talented names like Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic, they have big goals. This article will cover squad information, such as roster, captain, coach, and more.
Profile overview
Team name: Croatian National Football Team Nicknames: Vatreni (The Blazers), Kockasti (The Checkered Ones) Association: Croatian Football Federation (HNS) Head coach: Zlatko Dalic Captain: Luka Modric Most caps: Luka Modric (148) Goalscorer Most: Davor Suker (45) Home stadium: many FIFA Code: CRO Current FIFA ranking: 15 (as of June 2022) Highest FIFA rating: 3 (January 1999) Lowest FIFA rating: 125 (March 1994) World Cup appearances: 6 (first in 1998) Best result in a World Cup: Runner-up (2018) Squad size: 25 Average age: 27.3 years Confederation: UEFA Team captainThe 2018 World Cup finalists were captained by the sensational talent of Real Madrid, Luka Modric. The 36-year-old is also the player with the most caps in the national team, with 152 (as of June 2022).
Player Name: Luka Modric Nicknames: Cruyff from Balkan, David Guetta Player age: 36 (as of July 2022) Birthday: 9 September 1985 Place of birth: Zadar, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia Wife: Vanja Bosnic Jersey number: 10 Current club: Real Madrid Former club: Tottenham Hotspur Playing position: Midfielder Preferred feet: Left and right Player's height: 1.72 meters Clothing: Nike Player agent: Universal Sports Group Net worth: 75 million US dollars Salary: 20.7 million US dollarsTrainer#Vatreni❤️🔥 https://t.co/AuqrplwDYB
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 22, 2022
The current manager of the Croatian national team is Zlatko Dalic. He is a former Croatian national team player. The coach successfully led the team to finish as runners-up at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Full name: Zlatko Dalic Date of birth: 26 October 1966 Place of birth: Livno, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia Manager age: 55 (as of July 2022) Height: 1.79 meters Playing position: Defensive midfielderTop playerHead coach's verdict ️ #FRACRO #Family #NationsLeague #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/erJRg7u3Q1
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 13, 2022
Davor Suker is one of Croatia's top players who became Croatia's all-time leading goalscorer with 45 goals in a career spanning 12 years between 1990 and 2002. He was also the top scorer at the 1998 FIFA World Cup with six goals. Apart from the former Real Madrid and Arsenal players, Marcelo Brozovic and Luka Modric are also considered as Croatia's top players.
Marcelo BrozovicDid you check your pulse that day? 2⃣4⃣ years ago #OnThisDay, Davor uker had to repeat his successful penalty kick to provide #Croatia a 1:0 victory over Romania and to secure @FIFAWorldCup quarterfinal berth! #Family #WorldCup #OTD #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/E6MdnVGEW6
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 30, 2022
The 29-year-old Zagreb-born Inter Milan midfielder won the Serie A title in 2021, breaking the dominance of their eternal rivals Juventus, who previously won nine Scudettos in a row.
After joining the Nerazzurri in 2015 from Dinamo Zagreb, "Brozo" developed into a more mature footballer. The midfielder went from a quiet player to one best known for his defensive contributions and assists for team-mates and his own goals.
Luka ModricCongratulations to the best @SerieA midfielder in 2021/2022... @brozocrypto #Croatia international Marcelo Brozović wins the official award due to his brilliant performances in @Inter_en shirt! #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/n6k5qAmQ8p
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) May 21, 2022
Despite being 36 years old, the legendary captain of the Croatian national team shows the same ferocity and dedication to the Real Madrid crest as he has over the past decade. Over time, the Zadar-born footballer has maintained a commanding position in Los Blancos' midfield, comfortably ahead of new signings such as Federico Valverde, Martin Odegaard and Dani Ceballos.
NicknameThe Croatian national football team is also known as Vatreni (Blazers) or Kockasti (The Checkered Ones). In Italian-speaking countries, the team is known as Il Furioso Incendio (Fire Fiery).
2022 World Cup provisional squadGoalkeeper
Dominik Livakovic Ivica Ivusic Ivo Grbicdefender
Josko Gvardiol Duje Caleta-Car Marin Pongracic Dejan Lovren Domagoj Vida Mile Skoric Borna Sosa Borna Barisic Josip JuranovicMidfielder
Nikola Moro Kristijan Jakic Mateo Kovacic Mario Articleic Luka Modric Ivan Perisic Nikola Vlasic Lovro Majer Marko LivajaStriker
Josip Brekalo Mislav Orsic Andrev Kramaric Ante BudimirFIFA Ranking#Croatia practice session at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen #NationsLeague #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/ERmqPXJmMd
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 9, 2022
The world ranking of the Croatian national team as of June 2022 is 15th with 1632.15 points. Their outstanding performance in the 2018 World Cup contributed greatly to their current ranking.
Croatia at the World CupMoving upwards in #FIFARanking: #Croatia at No. 1⃣5⃣ in June edition! #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/8Efa4qhrcb
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) June 23, 2022
Croatia participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This is their fifth appearance. Luka Modric et al beat Russia, England and Denmark en route to the final, losing only 2-4 to the French national team led by Kylian Mbappe.
Croatia at the 2022 World Cup4⃣ years ago, #OnThisDay, #Croatia overcame Denmark to reach the #WorldCup quarterfinals! 🇭🇷🇩🇰Share your thoughts when......Denmark scored...Mandžukić equalized...Modrić took the extra-time PK...Subašić made his saves...Rakitić scored the final PK#Family #OTD #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/Kru3LQj86g
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) July 1, 2022
The Croatian national team finished the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with 23 points. They top Group H after beating the likes of Russia and Slovakia to book tickets to the Qatar World Cup.
In Qatar, Croatia are in Group F along with Belgium, Canada and Morocco. Here is their group fixture schedule:
Wednesday, 23 November 2022Morocco vs Croatia: 17:00 WIB Thursday, 24 November 2022 Belgium vs Canada: 02:00 WIB Sunday, 27 November 2022 Belgium vs Morocco: 20:00 WIB Croatia vs Canada: 23:00 WIB Thursday, 1 December 2022Croatia vs Belgium: 22:00 WIBCanada vs Morocco: 22.00 WIB TrophyThe Checkered Ones have been outstanding in recent years and are expected to continue with the same trend. Here are some of the country's achievements:
FIFA World Cup- Third place (bronze medal): 1998- Runner up (silver medal): 2018
Minor tournament- Hassan II Trophy: 1996 Winner- Kirin Cup: Runner up 1997- Korea Cup: 1999 Winner- Lunar New Year Cup: Bronze Medal 2006
More awards- Best Mover of the Year: 1994 and 1998