The UEFA European Championship is one of the major competitive international football tournaments, first played in 1960, whose finals stage has been held every four years.
The Croatia national football team has contested this tournament since 1996. Croatia has qualified for every Euro competition except for the 2000 edition. The team's best performances have been reaching the quarter-finals twice — in 1996 and 2008, losing to Germany and Turkey, respectively.
Overall record UEFA European Championship recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition Squad Position 1960 to 1992Part of Part of 1996Quarter-finals7th420255Squad1st10721225 2000Did not qualify3rd8431139 2004Group stage13th302146Squad2nd10622145 2008Quarter-finals5th431052Squad1st12921288 2012Group stage10th311143Squad2nd12822217 2016Round of 169th421154Squad2nd10631205 202014th411278Squad1st8521177 2024Group stage20th302136Squad2nd8512134 2028To be determinedTo be determined 2032TotalQuarter-finals7/8259883334––7850171114850
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
Croatia's European Championship recordFirst Match 0–1 (11 June 1996; Nottingham, England)Biggest Win 3–0 (16 June 1996; Sheffield, England)Biggest Defeat 0–3 (19 June 1996; Nottingham, England) 3–0 (15 June 2024; Berlin, Germany)Best ResultQuarter-finals in 1996 and 2008Worst ResultGroup stage in 2004, 2012 and 2024
UEFA Euro 1996
Qualifying
Group stage
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2004
Qualifying
Play-offs
Croatia won 2–1 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2004.
Group stage
UEFA Euro 2008
Qualifying
In the qualifiers, Croatia was drawn into Group E of Euro 2008's qualifications, along with Andorra, England, Estonia, Macedonia, Israel and Russia.
Over the course of qualifying, Croatia racked up nine wins, two draws, and one loss. Croatia's loss was a 2–0 defeat at Skopje, Macedonia. Croatia and Romania became the final teams to record their first loss, both on the 17 November 2007 matchday, in a qualification cycle where every team suffered at least one defeat. Croatia gathered numerous headlines after knocking England out on the final matchday, with a 3–2 victory at Wembley Stadium.
Croatian striker Eduardo was the second-highest goalscorer in qualifications with ten goals, trailing Northern Ireland's David Healy.
Group stage
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2012
Qualifying
Play-offs
Croatia won 3–0 on aggregate and qualified for UEFA Euro 2012.
Group stage
UEFA Euro 2016
Qualifying
Group stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
UEFA Euro 2020
Qualifying
Group stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
UEFA Euro 2024
Qualifying
Group stage
Ranking of third-placed teams
List of matches YearRoundOpponentScoreResultVenueCroatia scorers 1996Group stage1–0WNottinghamVlaović3–0WSheffieldŠuker (2), Boban0–3LNottinghamQuarter-finals1–2LManchesterŠuker 2004Group stage0–0DLeiria2–2DLeiriaRapaić, Pršo2–4LLisbonN. Kovač, Tudor 2008Group stage1–0WViennaModrić2–1WKlagenfurtSrna, Olić1–0WKlagenfurtKlasnićQuarter-finals1–1 DViennaKlasnić 2012Group stage3–1WPoznańMandžukić (2), Jelavić1–1DPoznańMandžukić0–1LGdańsk 2016Group stage1–0WParisModrić2–2DSaint-ÉtiennePerišić, Rakitić2–1WBordeauxKalinić, PerišićRound of 160–1 LLens 2020Group stage0–1LLondon1–1DGlasgowPerišić3–1WGlasgowVlašić, Modrić, PerišićRound of 163–5 LCopenhagenPedri (o.g.), Oršić, Pašalić 2024Group stage0–3LBerlin2–2DHamburgKramarić, Gjasula (o.g.)1–1DLeipzigModrić
By opponent Opponent 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 2 0 2 0 3 3 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 2 0 0 2 2 5 -3 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 4 1 0 3 5 10 −5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2
Player records
Most appearances RankPlayerMatchesYears1Luka Modrić162008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 20242Ivan Perišić132012, 2016, 2020, 20243Darijo Srna122004, 2008, 2012, 20164Vedran Ćorluka112008, 2012, 20165Ivan Rakitić102008, 2012, 2016Marcelo Brozović2016, 2020, 2024Andrej Kramarić2016, 2020, 2024
Goal scorers RankPlayerGoalsYears (goals)1Luka Modrić42008, 2016, 2020, 2024Ivan Perišić2016 (2), 2020 (2)3Davor Šuker31996Mario Mandžukić20125Ivan Klasnić220086Zvonimir Boban11996Goran Vlaović1996Niko Kovač2004Dado Pršo2004Milan Rapaić2004Igor Tudor2004Ivica Olić2008Darijo Srna2008Nikica Jelavić2012Nikola Kalinić2016Ivan Rakitić2016Nikola Vlašić2020Mislav Oršić2020Mario Pašalić2020Andrej Kramarić2024
Awards Team of the Tournament: Davor Šuker (1996), Luka Modrić (2008) With three goals, Mario Mandžukić was the joint-top scorer in 2012 alongside five other players, but did not win an award.
See also Croatia at the FIFA World Cup Croatia in the UEFA Nations League
References
External links