The Croatia national handball team () represents Croatia at international handball competitions and is governed by the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS). Since their Independence in 1991 Croatia has won 16 medals at main international competitions, the biggest being winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games twice and one World Championship title, and played in the final of the European Championship three times. The Croatian national team's victory at the 1996 Olympics is often credited as one of the biggest upsets in the history of handball. The Croatian national team have also won a so-called "international double", winning the gold medal at the World Championship (2003) and the Olympics (2004).
History of handball in Croatia and Yugoslavia (1904–1991)
Handball in Austria-Hungary (1904–1918) The word handball in the Croatian region was first used by Franjo Bučar in 1904 to describe the German game Schleuderball in the journal Sokol. The earliest documented forms of playing handball in these areas appear in 1911 at the gymnasium of Pazin, which is, among other things, due to the programs for education in Istria, as part of the then-Austrian coast, coming from the education center in Graz. At the time, handball was included in high school programs closing ceremony in Croatia. The type of handball was a form of Czech handball and was adopted by the Osijek and Vukovar students from Prague.
Between the two world wars (1918–1941) In the early beginnings of Croatian handball, venues played both field handball and handball. Students were mostly attracted to field handball as it was played on existing football fields, while handball was played on makeshift courts. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the first public handball match in the Croatian region and the wider neighborhood was played at a high school in Varaždin on 29 May 1930 under the guidance of physical education teacher Zvonimir Šuligoj. Since that game and until 1950, field handball was played exclusively in public in Croatia and Yugoslavia on football fields with eleven players on each side. The first handball courts in Yugoslavia was opened at a high school in Zagreb on 1 June 1935.
The establishment of Croatian Handball Federation and the first Croatian national team (1941–1945) At the beginning of World War II, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia disintegrated. Most of the territory inhabited by Croats became part of the newly formed Independent State of Croatia (NDH) on 10 April 1941. As part of the new state, the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS) was established for the first time in history on 2 October 1941 in Zagreb. The place of foundation is recorded to be at the Croatian Sports home in Jurišićeva, Zagreb. HRS is the umbrella organization of handball in the ISC coordinated the work of a dozen clubs and until 1944 organized national championships. The first Croatian handball team was established shortly after the formation of the NDH, with the first practice-match training held on 12 October 1941 under the guidance of head coach Dragutin Pehe. The team's first and only international match was played on 14 June 1942 against Hungary in Budapest, where they lost 0:9. The field handball match was played in front of 30,000 spectators at the then-NEP Stadium (since 2002 Ferenc Puskás Stadium) and was a prelude to the meeting of the Croatian and Hungarian football teams. Under the direction of the coach Ante Škrtić, the players for Croatia were Vlado Abramović, Irislav Dolenec, Žarko Galetović, Zvonko Leskovar, Todor Marinov, Viktor Medved, Krešo Pavlin, Vlado Šimanović, Stjepan Širić, Josip Žitnik, goalkeeper Branko Kraljand, who was considered the best Croatian player on the field, and reserve goalkeeper Zdenko Šurina. HRS stopped functioning in 1944 due to the world war.
Handball in SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1991)
Following the end of World War II in 1945, the territory of the Independent State of Croatia was included in the newly established SFR Yugoslavia and work immediately began on rebuilding the handball sport in Yugoslavia. That same year, the Committee for handball Gymnastics Association Croatian was founded, while the Committee for handball Gymnastics Association of Yugoslavia was established in May 1948. HRS was restored on 19 December 1948, in which, in accordance with the national policy of the new Yugoslav state, the name was changed to the Croatian Handball Association (RSH). Handball Federation of Yugoslavia (RSJ) was established on 17 December 1949 in Belgrade by pooling national and provincial associations, and it became a member of the International Handball Federation (IHF) in 1950.
After the end of World War II, most field handball players of the NDH completed courses and became instructors or referees in handball. Some became members of the field handball national team of Yugoslavia and played in its first international match, played on 19 June 1950 at the stadium in Stadion Kranjčevićeva in Zagreb, against Belgium. Yugoslavia won 18:3 playing with nine players from Zagreb, one from Split and one from Sarajevo.
Since the end of World War II and until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the best Croatian handball players in field and team handball were selected to play for the national team of Yugoslavia. As part of the national team, Croatian players competed at 17 major competitions and won seven medals, including two Olympic gold medals and one World Championship gold medal. During this period, the team also won five gold medals in five appearances at the Mediterranean Games (1967, 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1991), two gold and one bronze medal at the World Cups held in 1971, 1974 and 1984 in Sweden, two bronze medals at the handball Super League held in 1981 and 1983 in Germany, and a silver medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle.
At the World Junior Championship in 1987 in Rijeka, a nucleus generation of players that would define the 1990s for the Croatian national team came to light. Alvaro Načinović, Iztok Puc, Vladimir Jelčić and others were instrumental in helping Yugoslavia win the championship, and their talent and knowledge were later incorporated as seniors in the Croatian national team's first success after independence of the country. Place Croatians in the team of YugoslaviaOlimpijski Komitet Srbije(1)Olimpijski Komitet Srbije(2)Olimp(MI)Olimpijska OdličjaRukometne MedaljeSvjetske MedaljeTodor ArhivNjemački ArhivIrislav DolenecJezdimir StankovićBranislav PokrajacIvan SnojPero Janjić(1)Pero Janjić(2)Zdravko Malić(1) Zdravko Malić(2)Josip Milković SP 1974.Croatian head coaches10th place at WC 1952Irislav Dolenec (player)Ivan Snoj / Irislav Dolenec5th place at WC 1955.Irislav Dolenec (player), Stjepan KorbarIvan Snoj / Irislav Dolenec8th place at WC 1958Jerolim Karadža, Lovro Manestar, Božidar Peter, Zlatko Šimenc?, Ivan ŠpoljarićIvan Snoj9th place at SP 1961.Anton Bašić, Ivan Đuranec, Zvonko Jandroković, Jerolim Karadža, Božidar Peter, Zlatko Šimenc?Ivan Snoj6th place at WC 1964Vojislav Bjegović, Vinko Dekaris, Ivan Đuranec, Lujo Györy, Jerolim Karadža, Zvonko Kocijan, Josip Milković, Vladimir Vićan, Albin Vidović, Zlatko ŽagmešterIvan Snoj7th place at WC 1967Vinko Dekaris, Ivan Đuranec, Hrvoje Horvat, Jerolim Karadža, Branko Klišanin, Josip Milković, Miroslav Pribanić, Dobrivoje Selec, Ninoslav Tomašić, Ivan Uremović,Ivan Uremović SP 1967. Vladimir VićanIvan Snoj / Irislav Dolenec Gold medal at MG 1967Hrvoje Horvat, Miroslav Klišanin, Josip Milković, Ivan Uremović, Albin VidovićIvan Snoj / Vlado Štencl Bronze medal at WC 1970Hrvoje Horvat, Marijan Jakšeković, Dragutin Mervar, Josip Milković, Miroslav Pribanić, Zlatko ŽagmešterIvan Snoj / Vlado Štencl Gold medal at WC 1971Ivan Snoj Gold medal at OG 1972Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Miroslav Pribanić, Dobrivoje Selec, Albin Vidović, Zdenko ZorkoIvan Snoj / Vlado Štencl Bronze medal at WC 1974Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Zvonimir Serdarušić, Zdenko ZorkoIvan Snoj / Josip Milković Gold medal at WC 1974Ivan Snoj Gold medal at MG 1975Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Miroslav Pribanić, Zvonimir Serdarušić, Zdenko ZorkoIvan Snoj5th place at OG 1976Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Zvonimir Serdarušić, Zdenko ZorkoIvan Snoj / Pero Janjić5th place at WC 1978Sastav SP 1978.Hrvoje Horvat, Zdravko Miljak, Željko Nimš, Zvonimir Serdarušić,Serdarušić SP 1978. Željko Vidaković, Zdenko ZorkoIvan Snoj / Zdravko Malić Gold medal at MG 1979Pavle Jurina, Željko Vidaković, Zdravko Zovko, Željko Zovko6th place OG 1980Pavle Jurina, Stjepan Obran Bronze medal SC 1981 Silver medal at WC 1982Mirko Bašić, Pavle Jurina, Stjepan Obran, Zdravko Zovko Bronze medal SC 1983 Gold medal at MG 1983Mirko Bašić, Pavle Jurina, Stjepan Obran, Željko Vidaković, Zdravko Zovko Bronze medal at SC 1984 Gold medal at OG 1984Mirko Bašić, Pavle Jurina, Zdravko Zovko Gold medal at WC 1986Mirko Bašić, Zlatko Saračević Bronze medal at OG 1988Mirko Bašić, Boris Jarak, Alvaro Načinović, Goran Perkovac, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Irfan Smajlagić4th place at WC 1990Jugoslavija-IslandJugoslavija-DDRMirko Bašić, Nenad Kljaić, Iztok Puc, Zlatko Saračević, Irfan Smajlagić, Ratko Tomljanović Silver medal at GG 1990Jugoslavija-ŠpanjolskaJugoslavija-SSSRPatrik Ćavar, Bruno Gudelj, Nenad Kljaić Gold medal at MG 1991Tomislav Farkaš, Valter Matošević
Modern Croatia national handball team (1991–present) Official formation and first competitions (1991–1996) On 30 May 1990, Croatia began the process of creating the independent state, and soon established the modern Croatian handball team. The first international match of the Croatian handball team was played on 14 January 1991 in Zagreb, in Kutija Šibica. It was a friendly match with Japan which ended in a draw 23:23. The team was coached by Josip Milković with assistant coach Lino Červar and the players were Patrik Čavar, Tonči Peribonio, Vlado Šola, Ivica Obrvan, Nenad Kljaić, Iztok Puc, Ratko Tomljanović, Bruno Gudelj, Željko Zovko, Stjepan Obran, Tomislav Farkaš, Robert Ipša, Ivo Glavinić and Goran Stojanović. The dissolution of Yugoslavia that followed, Croatia gained full independence on 8 October 1991 the Croatian Handball Association (RSH) in 1992 restored the original name of the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS), and on 10 April 1992 became a member of the International Handball Federation (IHF), and 23 July 1992 members of the European Handball Federation (EHF).
Taking fourth place at the 1990 World Championship in Czechoslovakia the Yugoslav national team was placed among the nine best teams of the tournament, which acquired them the right to participate in the upcoming 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Because of the war and the disintegration of Yugoslavia, this team was disqualified, and should it was supposed to be specified who will replaced them in the games. Since the Croatian Olympic Committee (COC) was provisionally recognized on 17 January 1992 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and since Croatia had already on 22 May 1992 become a member of the United Nations, Croatian handball players had conditions to perform at the Olympic Games in 1992. This unfortunately did not happen. Although Croatia in terms of game was handball superpower, it was decided that Yugoslavia would be replaced by Iceland at the games as they finished tenth at the 1990 World Championship. Adverse effects of certain officials in the IOC prevented even the option of maintaining an additional qualifying tournament like the one held for the Croatian basketball players. Croatia also missed the 1993 World Championship in Sweden, because the World Championship in 1990 was an elimination tournament for this championship.