Croatia sent a clear message to the world when it finished in third place in France in 1998 at its debut appearance at the World Championship. After decades spent under the auspices of Yugoslavia, the Balkan country has regularly surpassed expectations on the biggest football stage since gaining independence.
By reaching the finals of the World Cup in Russia in 2018, and by winning another third place in Qatar 2022, Croatia achieved an incredible feat in as many as half of its appearances at the World Championships, reaching at least the semi-finals. This success is even more impressive when you consider that the country has less than four million inhabitants.
With Luka Modrić, who remains one of the key players of the national team even at the age of 40, Croatia dominated the European qualifications, so it would not be a surprise if Zlatko Dalić’s team goes very far again at the 2026 World Cup.
Qualification for the World Cup
Dalić’s team secured the first place in Group L of the European qualification round before the end. A 3:1 victory against the Faroe Islands guaranteed that the closest companions Czech Republic could no longer catch them.
Croatia was completely dominant during the qualifiers, achieving seven wins and one draw, which earned them a safe place at the World Cup.
The Flames scored 26 goals in eight games, including convincing 7-0 victories against Gibraltar and 5-1 against the Czech Republic in June. Andrej Kramarić was the top scorer with six goals, while Ivan Perišić scored four.
The last appearance at the World Cup
After the final in Russia, Croatia also achieved an outstanding result in Qatar. History repeated itself because the “cubes” passed the group stage without major problems, playing without goals against Morocco and Belgium and defeating Canada with 4:1.
In the knockout phase, they showed recognizable mental strength. After the penalty shootout, they eliminated Japan, and then the big favorite Brazil, thus winning a new semi-final.
An inspired Lionel Messi led Argentina to a 3-0 victory in the semi-finals, but Croatia ended the tournament in the best possible way, defeating Morocco 2-1 to claim another medal.
“This is bronze with a golden shine. We won in a difficult match”, said Zlatko Dalić at the time.
“This medal is for the Croatian people. It’s really great that we won two medals in two consecutive tournaments. Big congratulations to my players.”
The best scorer at the World Championships
Davor Šuker and Ivan Perišić share first place on the list of the best Croatian scorers at the World Cup with six goals each.
Šuker scored all six goals at the World Cup in 1998, while Perišić reached the same number through three tournaments. He scored twice in Brazil 2014, three times in Russia 2018, including goals in the semi-finals and final, and once against Japan in the Round of 16 in Qatar 2022.
Since Perišić is still playing at the top level at the age of 36, he has a great opportunity to become Croatia’s independent record holder at the 2026 World Cup.
Record number of appearances
Luka Modrić made an impressive 19 appearances at four World Cups, which was significantly contributed by Croatia’s two long campaigns until the very end of the tournament.
If Croatia again achieves a remarkable result in North America, Modrić could further progress on the eternal list of players with the most appearances at the World Cup.
Among active footballers ahead of him are only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Right behind Modrić is Perišić with 17 appearances at the World Championships.
