Now give me some proper detail
How has the national team of a small, fledgling country of just 3.9 million people become arguably the game’s biggest overachievers?
In the 30 years since their first major tournament, Croatia have produced two golden generations. The first, spearheaded by iconic striker Davor Suker, reached the Euro 1996 quarter-finals on debut and came third at the 1998 World Cup.
The second, and current, crop went one better by reaching the 2018 World Cup final. They finished third four years ago and were Nations League runners-up in 2023 as the veteran core of the team continues to rage against the dying of the light.
Croatia unquestionably produces talented footballers, nurtured at academies where they’d often be asked to play in midfield – regardless of their usual position – to improve their all-round game.
However, it’s the intangibles that make the current squad tick – a never-say-die mentality, national pride and unity.
Those traits have been forged, in part, from growing up in a newly-independent country ravaged by war following the break-up of Yugoslavia. It forced captain Luka Modric to flee his home and live as a refugee, and instilled in him and others a resilience and innate drive to overcome the odds.
“The national team has become a movement,” long-serving head coach Zlatko Dalic said in 2024. “It is a symbol of the nation.”