At the 1998 FIFA World Cup Croatia participated in the event for the first time. The country went on to finish third.
Qualifications Croatia was drawn in Group A of UEFA's World Cup qualifications along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Greece, and Slovenia. Croatia finished second, behind Denmark, and qualified for the World Cup. The team had the following results:
ResultsDateVenueOpponentScoreOctober 8, 1996Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, BolognaBosnia and Herzegovina4:1November 10, 1996Maksimir Stadium, ZagrebGreece1:1March 29, 1997Poljud Stadium, SplitDenmark1:1April 2, 1997Poljud Stadium, SplitSlovenia3:3April 30, 1997Toumba Stadium, ThessalonikiGreece1:0September 6, 1997Maksimir Stadium, ZagrebBosnia and Herzegovina3:2September 10, 1997Parken Stadium, CopenhagenDenmark1:3October 11, 1997Bežigrad Stadium, LjubljanaSlovenia3:1
The final standings were the following:
TeamPtsPldWDLGFGAGD1785211468 15843117125 148422114798305914-518017520-15
Players
Team captain Zvonimir Boban is the only player that appeared in all 10 qualifying matches. Davor Šuker was top scorer with 5 goals. Ardian Kozniku, Petar Krpan, Anthony Šerić and Vladimir Vasilj did not appear in any of the qualifying matches but made the final World Cup squad.
Complete list of players in the qualifying matches {|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" |- !width=50px|# !class="unsortable" width=150px|Name !width=50px|Games Played !width=50px|Goals |- | 1 | Zvonimir Boban | 10 | 3 |- |rowspan="4"| 2 | Davor Šuker | 9 | 5 |- ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Alen Bokšić | 9 | 4 |- | Slaven Bilić | 9 | 3 |- | Aljoša Asanović | 9 | 0 |- |rowspan="2"| 6 | Goran Vlaović | 8 | 2 |- | Robert Jarni | 8 | 0 |- |rowspan="4"| 8 | Zvonimir Soldo | 7 | 1 |- | Dario Šimić | 7 | 1 |- | Goran Jurić | 7 | 0 |- | Dražen Ladić | 7 | 0 |- |rowspan="2"| 12 | Robert Prosinečki | 6 | 1 |- ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Igor Cvitanović | 6 | 0 |- |rowspan="2"| 14 ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Nikola Jerkan | 4 | 0 |- | Krunoslav Jurčić | 4 | 0 |- |rowspan="4"| 16 | Silvio Marić | 3 | 1 |- ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Niko Kovač | 3 | 0 |- | Marjan Mrmić | 3 | 0 |- | Igor Štimac | 3 | 0 |- |rowspan="4"| 20 ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Tomislav Erceg | 2 | 0 |- ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Tonči Gabrić | 2 | 0 |- ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Nenad Pralija | 2 | 0 |- | Mario Stanić | 2 | 0 |- |rowspan="4"| 24 ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Nikola Jurčević | 1 | 0 |- | Zoran Mamić | 1 | 0 |- ! style="background-color: #ffdddd" | Daniel Šarić | 1 | 0 |- | Igor Tudor | 1 | 0
Player was not selected for the 1998 FIFA World Cup squad
World Cup squad Head coach: Miroslav Blažević
Croatia at the World Cup At the World Cup, Croatia was drawn into Group H along with Argentina, Jamaica, Japan. The team advanced to the round of sixteen, finishing in second place in the group. The team had the following results:
TeamPtsPldWDLGFGAGD9330070+76320142+23310239-60300314-3Croatia3 - 1Jamaica Croatia1 - 0JapanCroatia0 - 1Argentina
June 14, 1998 1 - 3 (1-1)21:00 - Stade Félix Bollaert, LensRef: Vítor Pereira (Portugal)Attendance: 38,058Earle 45'Stanić 27' Prosinečki 53' Šuker 69'
June 20, 1998 0 - 1 (0-0)14:30 - Stade de la Beaujoire, NantesRef: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago)Attendance: 35,500 Šuker 77'
June 26, 1998 1 - 0 (1-0)16:00 - Parc Lescure, BordeauxRef: Said Belqola (Morocco)Attendance: 31,800Pineda 36'
Croatia went on to face the Romanian squad in the round of sixteen.
June 30, 1998 0 - 1 (0-1)16:30 - Parc Lescure, BordeauxRef: Javier Castrilli (Argentina)Attendance: 31,800 Šuker (p) 45'+2'
Croatia then played the heavily favoured German squad in the quarter-finals after their victory over Romania.
July 4, 1998 0 - 3 (0-1)21:00 - Stade Gerland, LyonRef: Rune Pedersen (Norway)Attendance: 39,100 Jarni 45'+3' Vlaović 80' Šuker 85'
After this surprise victory, Croatia played the host French team.
July 8, 1998 2 - 1 (0-0)21:00 - Stade de France, Saint-DenisRef: José Garcia Aranda (Spain)Attendance: 76,000Thuram 47'Šuker 46'Thuram 69'
Croatia lost the match against France, ending their World Cup dreams. However, they advanced to the match for third place against the Netherlands.
July 11, 1998 1 - 2 (1-2)21:00 - Parc des Princes, ParisRef: Epifanio Gonzalez Chavez (Paraguay)Attendance: 45,500Zenden 21'Prosinečki 13' Šuker 35'
With this victory, Croatia finished in third, becoming the surprise of the tournament. Striker Davor Šuker also earned the tournament's Golden Boot for his six goals.
References